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EPA's Joel Beauvais
The congressional hearing Wednesday on Flint's water crisis was full of anger and indignation, name-calling and finger pointing even though some players were missing -- including Gov. Rick Snyder, who one lawmaker accused of poisoning the children of Flint.
Joel Beauvais, acting water chief for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that Michigan officials ignored federal advice to treat Flint water for corrosion-causing elements last year and delayed for months before telling the public about the health risks of lead-contaminated water, according to a report in Crain's Detroit Business.
"What happened in Flint was avoidable and never should have happened," Beauvais said.
"The delays in implementing the actions needed to treat the drinking water and in informing the public of ongoing health risks raise very serious concerns."
Keith Creagh, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, said the state should have required Flint to treat its water, but said the EPA "did not display the sense of urgency that the situation demanded," allowing the problem to fester for months, Crain's reports. He said government at all levels should have done more.
Virginia Tech’s Marc Edwards, who helped expose the problem by testing water samples, asked the committee to "fix" the EPA, according to a report in the Detroit News.
“The agencies paid to protect us from lead in drinking water can get away with anything,” he said. “I am begging you … to fix the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule and to fix the U.S. EPA.” He called the whole thing criminal.
Representative Matt Cartright, D-Pa., lambasted Snyder.
"What we see here is the responsible, the culpable party being caught red handed, so red handed that he had to admit his blame and apologize to the nation and to Flint. This governor of Michigan, and his emergency managers, hand picked, to save money, that in keeping with his philosophy of government, to save money on infrastructure at the expense of public safety, he got caught red handed poisoning the children in Flint and the residents of Flint. There's no two ways about it. That's the headline here."
Earlier, the committee expressed anger about former Flint Emergency Manager Darnell Earley not appearing after being invited days ago and subpoenaed the night before. Earley's attorney had said he was trying to arrange a ossible later appearance.
Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the committee's senior Democratic member, speaks forcefully in the video excerpt against the state's emergency management role in struggling cities. "He was on fire during his time at the microphone," posts Michigan activist Chris Savage of eclectablog.
