US, Michigan Officials Trade Blame Over Flint’s Toxic Water Crisis

The crisis dates to the city’s unusual decision, under leadership of Early, to save money by switching from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River.

In Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard testimony from several Flint officials and experts.

The subpoenas for Hedman and Earley are for a hearing the committee said will take place later this month. “It appears that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, at the direction of (former DEQ Director) Dan Wyant, failed to promptly and properly respond to the Flint water crisis, and that he resigned for that reason”, Cummings and Lawrence wrote.

Representative Jason Chaffetz, who confirmed the latest subpoena on Wednesday, is also head of the House Oversight panel.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Wednesday he will propose $30 million in state funding to help pay the water bills of Flint residents facing an emergency over the city’s lead-contaminated water supply. For some reason, and I can’t imagine what it might be, MI governor Rick Snyder has not been called to testify.

On Tuesday, the investigation of the Flint crisis broadened with the inclusion of the FBI.

“I am really begging you to do what we didn’t do the last two times I appeared before this committee, which is to fix the EPA lead and copper rule and to fix the U.S. EPA”, Edwards said at the hearing.

Then there is the Michigan Department of Environmentl Quality, which overseas Michigan’s public water supplies to ensure safe drinking water. The U.S. attorney’s office in Detroit said in January that it was investigating the water crisis with the EPA. Earley had been served a subpoena issued by the committee’s Republican majority, which he defied.

Anthony Fordham picks up bottled water from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to deliver to a school after elevated lead levels were found in the city’s water in Flint, Michigan December 16, 2015.

“We’re taking care of the issues in the sequence that they need to be addressed”, Snyder said.

Creagh acknowledged the state should have required Flint to treat its water to prevent pipe corrosion after elevated level levels were discovered more than a year ago, but contended the EPA’s attitude toward the situation allowed the problem to continue for months.

The pastors behind the water drive said their congregations take what happened in Flint personally.

“He is vital to understanding what happened and how these decisions were made”, Chaffetz said. I’ll bet it is not city water. The governor says the money is available because the state has a budget surplus. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Detroit said that federal prosecutors are “working with a multi-agency investigation team on the Flint water contamination matter, including the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, EPA’s Office of Inspector General, and EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division”, the Detroit Free Press reported.

“Replacing the most risky lines first I think is extremely important”, said Ananich, pointing to Friday’s announcement by state and federal health officials that water samples collected from 26 random taps since the last week of December have shown lead levels higher than what filters are rated to handle.

Stabenow said she would thwart further work on the energy bill until Republicans agree to move forward on the package for Flint.

On Tuesday, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver told reporters she wants lead pipes removed from the city’s water distribution system as soon as possible.