Officials warned of Flint water, Legionnaires’ link

Wurfel, who resigned shortly after the mayor of Flint declared a state of emergency over the water crisis in November 2015, downplayed the point that the Flint River was causing the outbreak.

“There is a limit to how many times you can play dumb when it comes to events and actions that take place on your watch”, Dillon said.

Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, says the state did not require corrosion treatment after officials noticed elevated lead levels in January 2015. Kildee said that it was the state that was responsible for ensuring that their citizens have a source of clean water.

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.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the chairman of the energy committee who has negotiated with Stabenow for weeks, proposed Thursday $50 million in emergency funding for Flint and access to a federal loan program that MI and others states with lead problems could tap to borrow additional money. The emergency managers, supported by local officials, approved switching Flint off of the Detroit water system to a new regional authority.

The resultant neurological damage causes hearing loss, learning disabilities, speech deficits and behavioral problems in children – and even lesser-known problems, such as hypertension and damage to the kidneys and reproductive organs – in adults.

The announcement was made at 4:30 p.m.at the EPA Command Post in Flint after an official for the federal government’s response and recovery effort has toured the post. The state has allocated almost $39 million in the current budget year to address Flint’s crisis.

Should the bill be passed by the House of Representatives, 21,000 customers who continued to pay their bills, including those who have since moved away, would get a credit for 65 percent of the water portion of their combined water and sewer bill. Democrats blame the Republican governor and some Republicans have targeted the EPA for failing to intervene sooner. He says the results were much better when water was run through a filter.

Roughly 40 EPA agents are on the ground testing the water at homes with the highest lead levels.

“Can anybody tell me why Governor Snyder is not here today?” asked Republican Matt Cartwright.

Chaffetz told reporters that he’d drag Earley in to testify if “that’s the way he wants it”.

But officials with the Detroit teachers union have said Earley, 64, has not responded well enough to their complaints about leaky roofs, rodents and mold in school buildings. The oversight committee issued a subpoena to Earley yesterday, but his lawyer said it was impossible for him to appear at the hearing and suggested a different date.

The fight over the water crisis in Flint, Mich., is threatening to tank the Senate’s broad energy reform bill.

“Susan Hedman cared more about policy than the welfare of an entire community, while punishing and silencing the one person who was willing to help us”, Walters said.

The DEQ said it is working with the state Department of Health and Human Services to make sure residents with high blood-lead levels get their water tested.

Chaffetz and other Republicans said EPA should have acted on its own to warn the public about water problems in Flint.