Flint water crisis: Michigan officials ignored EPA warnings about toxicity
Source: The Guardian
Flint water crisis: Michigan officials ignored EPA warnings about toxicity
‘We all let the people of Flint down,’ authorities tells Congress in hearing that also
highlights flawed water testing practices that persist in other major US cities
Oliver Milman and Ryan Felton
Wednesday 3 February 2016 18.37 GMT
The Environmental Protection Agency warned of an unfolding toxic water crisis in Flint but was “met with resistance” by Michigan authorities, a fiery congressional hearing into the city’s public health disaster has heard.
Expert advice was dismissed, prompting Michigan’s government to issue an apology to the people of Flint at the hearing for sidelining people who raised concerns over dangerous levels of lead in in the city’s water.
Congress was also told that flawed water testing practices, now eliminated in Flint, are happening unchecked across the US, risking a much wider public health crisis in other cities.
A picture emerged at the hearing of failure, delay and resistance as state officials ignored scientists and kept the public in the dark about health risks. One senior official admitted there were still no guarantees that water was safe to drink, conceding: “We all let the people of Flint down.”
Joel Beauvais, acting deputy assistant administrator of the EPA’s office of water, said the regulator was aware of elevated lead levels in Flint’s water in spring 2015, with these problems outlined further in a June 2015 memo.
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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/03/flint-water-crisis-congress-michigan-officials-ignored-epa-warnings-lead
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pisses me off.
