MI and federal officials traded charges Wednesday over who is to blame for the water crisis in Flint, Mich., at a heated House hearing where government agencies at all levels were accused of ignoring the city’s plight. Susan Hedman, former administrator for the EPA’s Region 5 Office, and Darnell Earley, former emergency manager for Flint, were among those who did not show up.
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Chaffetz said the blame for the crisis stems from the local level to the federal level with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) failure to publically release documents detailing the true level of contamination.
Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it has joined other agencies in investigating the lead contamination to see if any officials should be held criminally culpable. State officials have apologized over the crisis, and US lawmakers are pushing for more federal aid to help the city. The new system was not properly monitored and allowed for lead to soak into the system that delivered water to thousands of Flint residents.
He said EPA’s regional staff urged MI officials “to address the lack of corrosion control” but instead “encountered resistance”.
The $28 million emergency supplemental funding signed last week is in addition to $9.3 million in October 2015 to move back to Detroit’s water system, test drinking water and provide wraparound services for children. Dan Kildee, who represents Flint, testified that although he agrees the EPA acted too slowly, MI officials blaming the EPA is like a bank robber blaming the police for failing to stop them from getting into the bank.
Flint residents still receive a monthly bill for water they can’t drink, at rates about eight times the national average.
Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat and ranking member of the committee, took issue with the fact that Flint residents were still getting billed for the toxic water.
Flint residents had been complaining for more than a year about the city’s water quality, with issues ranging from the color and odor of the water to rashes and hair loss they said appeared after consuming it. City and state officials had maintained the water was safe, making Del Toral’s preliminary report the first instance of a public official addressing public water quality concerns.
He described the situation in Flint – the misguided switch, the sloppy testing, the slow government response – as “part 1984” and part “Enemy of the State”.
“What happened in Flint was avoidable and never should have happened”, said Joel Beauvais, acting chief of the EPA’s water office.
“We’re calling on the U.S. Marshals to hunt him down and give him that subpoena,”Chaffetz said to cheers from hearing attendees”.
Earley only implemented the plan to change the city’s water source that others had put in place before he started, Bolden said.
“Can anybody tell me why Gov. Snyder is not here today?” asked Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa.
Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech professor who helped expose the lead problem in September, said: “It’s hard to find moral justification in having (residents) pay for water that is not suitable for consumption nor, until recently, for bathing”.
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“We are serious, and if they want a bill we want to help the people of Flint”, said Sen. Democrats hoped to include the package in a bipartisan energy bill.
