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Panel cites state errors, intransigence on Flint

Michiganders have hotly debated who was responsible for tapping the corrosive Flint River as a drinking water source, but the report makes it clear that the emergency managers, not locally elected officials, made the decision. The river had a reputation for nastiness. “The Governor’s office continued to rely on incorrect information provided by these departments despite mounting evidence from outside experts and months of citizens’ complaints throughout the Flint water crisis, only changing course in early October 2015 when MDEQ and MDHHS finally acknowledged the extent of the problem of lead in the public water supply”.

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LANSING, Mich. (AP) – The lead contamination of Flint’s water is “a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice”, according to a task force created by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to investigate the crisis.

Flint’s drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014, when the city, while under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager, switched its drinking water source from Lake Huron water treated by the Detroit water system to Flint River water treated at the Flint water treatment plant. Other than a television that was taken, there are no new leads, but Flint Police Chief Tim Johnson called it an “inside job” that occurred while investigations were beginning to take shape.

The goal of the program is to replace thousands of lead-tainted service lines in the city.

The report also blames the Environmental Protection Agency of delaying enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Lead and Copper Rule, which prolonged the effects of the water crisis. “But on top of that, state-appointed emergency managers were running the city at the time, so it’s really that combination of those two that drove us to our finding that the state is primarily accountable”.

Members of the Flint water crisis panel caution against assigning racist motivations to culpable city and state officials, but did state that the report proves – unequivocally – that black, and poor neighborhoods, were “disproportionately” affected by the crisis due to “environmental injustice” rather than direct racist motivation.

Congressman Dan Kildee of Flint spoke at the White House Water Summit Tuesday, to discuss the need to invest in America’s aging infrastructure to ensure safe drinking water.

Snyder, who came under questioning at a Congressional hearing last week, didn’t go into detail about what the new regulations for the state would be, but a state document laying out the next steps for Flint will said the new rules will comply with “much higher standards”.

Task force members also called for a review of the state’s emergency manager law.

Meanwhile, Genesee County has sent a bill to the state for more than $1 million to reimburse the local government for its costs to deal with the water crisis.

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“I am not going to point fingers or shift blame; there is plenty of that to share, and neither will help the people of Flint”, Snyder said in a prepared statement. She says galvanized steel lines also will be replaced.

Consumers Energy Employees Volunteering to Support Flint