But the governor said the EPA had failed to alert the public when one of its own experts raised the alarm about lead levels in Flint water.
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232-a-11-(Bishop Bernadel Jefferson, pastor from Flint, Michigan, at news conference)-“to us then”-Bishop Bernadel Jefferson, a pastor from Flint, Michigan, says the city’s residents haven’t been able to meet with their governor”.
He responded: “I kick myself every day in terms of what more questions could I have asked, what more could we have done”. The river water ate into rust and buildup on old pipes, solder on joints and the insides of old metal fixtures, mixing contaminants with treated water and sending it out utility customers’ faucets.
Rick Snyder was skewered by Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland during a House committee hearing on March 17 regarding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan (video below).
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, for her part, faulted state officials, noting that the impoverished city was under state management when the city’s water supply was switched in April 2014.
In the midst of USA political campaigns, the hearing was consumed with partisan attacks.
But Mr. Snyder will also take aim at the federal Environmental Protection Agency, according to a prepared statement released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, assailing “ineffective, inefficient and unaccountable bureaucrats” at the agency who “allowed this disaster to continue unnecessarily”. Of the federal government’s involvement, Rep. Cummings said, “I agree that the EPA should have done more”. “Governor, don’t you have a moral responsibility to resign?”
After publicity about the contaminated water, MI officials in October came up with $6 million of a $12 million tab to switch Flint’s water source back to Lake Huron. Government agencies and charitable groups have sent thousands of bottles of water to Flint and doctors are monitoring the health of its 100,000 residents, more than half of them black and many of them impoverished. Snyder who initially refused to appear before congressional committee, maintained that he was unaware of the problem until late September 2015. He said the governor was chiefly responsible for enforcing the Safe Drinking Water Act.
“We couldn’t do our jobs effectively”, she said.
Ever since declaring Flint, Michigan a state of emergency, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder has refused to accept responsibility for lead getting into the city’s water supply.
“You were not in a medically induced coma for the past year, Cartwright said, referring to the lag time between when the governor found out about the issue and when he arrived in Flint”.
Asked if President Barack Obama still had confidence in McCarthy, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said, “Absolutely”.
“If the EPA doesn’t know when to step in and ensure a community has safe drinking water, I’m not sure why it exists at all”, said committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).
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She pointed the finger at the state, criticising Mr Snyder’s hand-picked officials in Flint as well as state regulators.
