House panel seeks documents on Flint water crisis

But critics also accused the EPA of covering up what it knew about that misconduct while Flint residents continued drinking the tainted water.

Chaffetz vowed to “hunt down” Earley, although his lawyer said it was impossible for Earley to appear at the hearing and suggested a different date. One former emergency manager in Flint, Darnell Earley, who resigned this week as emergency manager to Detroit’s public schools, is now expected to testify before the congressional committee after a subpoena was reportedly issued.

Despite the partisan bickering, the hearing “got stuff accomplished”, said LeeAnne Walters, a Flint parent and activist who helped bring public attention to the city’s water crisis more than a year ago.

The city of Flint, Michigan, is under a federal emergency declaration after it was discovered that residents were being delivered lead-contaminated water for over a year. Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) bristled at the prospect the EPA moved slowly to tell state officials about the water problems, and said the agency should have announced its findings publicly.

The city switched back last October after tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children.

The bill, known as the Reclaim Act, takes numerous cues from the Obama administration’s Power Plus Plan, and is the result of negotiations between both parties in the House and the White House.

“We want answers from everybody, from the EPA straight on down to the local officials”, said Cummings.

Attorney Billy Murphy says the lawsuit he filed this week will compensate Flint residents for paying for water that he calls “incredibly risky”.

U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) along with Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), proposed legislation in Congress last week to appropriate $400 million in federal funding to resolve the crisis in Flint, along with $200 million to assist existing health issues of children and adults that have been exposed to lead. When Democratic Detroit abruptly shut off the water, before Flint was ready to use Lake Huron water, the mayor and city council chose to temporarily use the Flint river water source. An expert hired by McLaren said the change in Flint’s water quality was a “likely factor” in causing the increase in Legionnaires cases in Genesee County.

“We can’t afford to use bottled water all the time to bathe in”, said resident Linda Cochran.

Flint has been dealing with lead contamination of its drinking water following a water source switch in April 2014, when a Snyder-appointed emergency manager was in charge of the city.

State officials “relied on technical compliance (with the law) instead of assuring safe drinking water”, said Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

They stated on Wednesday that they will send the U.S. Marshals to get him. The Flint River water still is not drinkable, officials said.

The state Department of Health and Human Services had already begun assisting the county in the fall of 2014, and the Legionnaires’ investigation had become “very intensive” in early 2015, said Dr. Eden Wells, Michigan’s chief medical executive.