“That’s why I am so committed to delivering permanent, long-term solutions and the clean, safe drinking water that every MI citizen deserves”.
Advertisement
Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., balked at that.
Complete coverage of the Flint water crisis in our special section.
Edwards told InsideSources that he remains concerned about the lead pipes in the D.C. water system.
Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz and other Republicans argued that if the EPA couldn’t stop the crisis in Flint, “Why do we even need an EPA?”
Washington officials say the quality of the water is up to standards in a letter to consumers.
With the nation focused on a major crisis in Flint, Michigan, where lead from ageing pipes leached into the municipal water supply, the newspaper launched an investigation which found higher than acceptable lead levels in about 2 000 water systems across the United States. “She got to take a bath at the hotel, and drink water right out of the tap”.
While Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was not at the hearing, she said Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy should “be removed from office and face any appropriate charges for overseeing this health disaster”.
Elijah Cummings, the committee’s ranking Democrat, said Republicans were “desperately” trying to shift blame to the federal agency.
But Cummings said the governor should have done more to push back against state experts. “You weren’t on that email?” said Cummings.
“It was not the EPA at the helm when this happened”, she said.
Members cited emails regarding Legionairre’s disease and lead circulated within the governor’s inner circle well before the public was made aware.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post/Getty Images Keeghan Nelson, 4, of Flint, Mich., gets his blood lead levels tested at Carriage Town Ministries. “Governor Snyder is making it seem like the response has been effective, and it’s been extremely ineffective”.
Wakes says she feels like Snyder and McCarthy dodged many tough questions, and she doesn’t feel any closer to getting answers on what went wrong.
He told McCarthy in one of several heated exchanges, “You had authority under the law (to fix problems in Flint) and you didn’t do it”.
“If you want to do the courageous thing like you said that Susan Hedman did, then you, too, should resign”, he told the EPA chief. But Republicans looked to probe the EPA’s role in the situation, and criticized McCarthy personally for not doing enough. “People who put dollars over the fundamental safety of people do not belong in government, and you need to resign, too, Mr. Governor”, he added.
The partisan fireworks illustrated the national political repercussions of a decision by state overseers to switch water suppliers in the impoverished city to save money.
EPA leader Gina McCarthy said Thursday that the agency was “misled” about the severity of the water crisis.
Snyder talked about the state’s relief efforts, saying that Lansing rushed to provide filters and bottled water and testing to residents upon knowing of the problem.
Advertisement
243-w-28-(Steve Coleman, AP religion editor, with Bishop Bernadel Jefferson, pastor from Flint, Michigan)-Residents of Flint, Michigan, who attended a congressional hearing on their city’s contaminated water are demanding accountability and “healing”.
