Former Detroit Mayor Says, ‘Governors Knew About Flint Water Ills Since 2004’

In Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard testimony from several Flint officials and experts. According to Chaffetz, Earley was invited last week to testify before the committee, but told the panel on Monday night that he would not and his lawyer refused a subpoena issued Tuesday.

Detroit Free Press Capitol Hill reporter Todd Spangler was at the hearing and said there was a lot of finger pointing during Wednesday’s proceedings.

A lifelong Flint resident who said her 5-year-old granddaughter developed dry spots all over her body wants the city’s water pipes replaced.

On Thursday, Earley was served with a subpoena, the U.S. Marshals Service said. “I think EPA casts a blind eye on these municipalities which are not following [the federal Lead and Copper rule]”, he said. All of them have been affected and exposed to the unsafe drinking water of Flint.

But he says state officials were not the only ones who made mistakes in Flint. When MDEQ director Keith Creagh tried to pin the crisis on the city’s failure to treat the water with corrosion controls, rather than the decision to switch water sources, Cummings pounced.

“The city, the state, the local government officials, the governor, all know that this was catastrophically wrong”, Murphy said. The state has allocated almost $39 million in the current budget year to address Flint’s crisis. He said that $75 million would refund 30,000 Flint citizens’ water bills and the other $75 million would aid in any damage that the polluted water caused to pipes, water heaters, pumps, and other equipment. A chorus of residents and scientists raised warnings, but government officials insisted for months that the water was not unsafe.

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

Rep. Kildee is hoping that the attention Flint has been receiving could help get other support, such as a bill that he has proposed that would require the EPA to provide a public notice when they have evidence of elevated lead levels or other problems in the city’s water system.

The bill was passed unanimously by the state Senate one day after Governor Rick Snyder formally announced the plan.

“Participation before this committee is not optional”, he said.

The Democratic proposal also requires federal action if a state refuses to warn the public about unsafe water and authorizes $200 million over 10 years to monitor lead exposure in Flint.

An FBI spokeswoman said the agency was determining whether federal laws were broken, but declined further comment.

In 2014, Flint began using drinking water from the contaminated Flint River instead of from Lake Huron, which supplies water to Detroit.