The almost four-hour hearing produced no major revelations, although Snyder for the first time acknowledged that a state law, which allows state-appointed officials to take control of troubled municipalities, failed in the case of Flint.
Advertisement
Maryland Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Margaret Flowers joined Flint, Michigan, residents and advocates at the Rayburn House Office Building Thursday to demand that the Environmental Protection Agency and Gov. Rick Snyder be held accountable for their inaction regarding water poisoning in the city.
“Seems like the Flint lead issue is really getting concerning”, McCarthy wrote to Hedman and other agency officials on September 26 as she called for a meeting on the subject.
While both the GOP governor and the Obama administration’s EPA chief were scolded roundly, the question of who is more to blame clearly was divided along party lines. “We were kept at arm’s length”, she said, referring to state officials.
“This is very personal and it’s a sad day for me”, Congresswoman (D-MI) Brenda Lawrence told Gov. Rick Snyder at a House of Representatives congressional committee hearing in Washington on the Flint Water Crisis.
“You had the opportunity, you had the presence, you had the authority, you had the backing of the federal government, and you did not act when you had the chance, and if you’re going to do the courageous thing, you too should step down”, Chaffetz said.
During a particularly tense exchange between Chaffetz and McCarthy, the committee chair grew frustrated with McCarthy, saying that she had the ultimate power to do something about Flint. I have had enough of your false contrition and your phony apologies.
Some members of Congress weren’t hearing it.
Flint, a working class, mostly African-American city of 100,000 people, switched water supplies to the Flint River from Detroit’s water system in 2014, to save money.
“Governor Snyder, plausible deniability only works when it’s plausible and I’m not buying that you didn’t about now any of this until October 2015″, he said”. “Governor, don’t you have a moral responsibility to resign?”
233-a-09-(Bishop Bernadel Jefferson, pastor from Flint, Michigan, at news conference)-“we do matter (second reference, applause fades)”-Bishop Bernadel Jefferson, a pastor from Flint, Michigan, says switching the city’s water supply was a serious mistake”.
In a congressional hearing Thursday, Gina McCarthy, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, got a lot of heat. “I will take responsibility for not pushing hard enough but it was not the EPA that caused this”. The city returned to Detroit water system in October, but a potential hazard remains because of damage to the water distribution system. “That’s why I’m committed to delivering permanent, long-term solutions and the clean, safe drinking water to Flint that every MI citizen deserves”. He said that the EPA should have done more, but it was the “incompetence” of Snyder’s administration at fault.
Advertisement
“I’ve got to tell you: You’ve got to resign”, he said.
