Top Aide Opposed Replacing Michigan Environmental Chief
Source: Associated Press
Top Aide Opposed Replacing Michigan Environmental Chief
By JOHN FLESHER, AP ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER
Feb 27, 2016, 4:46 PM ET
Gov. Rick Snyder's departing chief of staff believed it was a mistake to replace Michigan's environmental director over the lead-contaminated drinking water crisis in Flint, according to an email made public Saturday.
Dennis Muchmore expressed his disappointment the same day Dan Wyant resigned as director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Wyant stepped down as a task force appointed by the Republican governor released a letter saying the agency was the primary culprit in the financially struggling city's water disaster.
"You didn't ask me so I'm just being a Monday morning QB, but Dan is one of the most exceptional directors in state government history over the last 40 years ... and has brought a level of professionalism and expertise to everything he's ever done," Muchmore, who was preparing to leave his job with the governor to join a law firm, wrote in a Dec. 29 email to his successor, Jarrod Agen.
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The task force's letter, released the same day Wyant resigned, said DEQ personnel erred by failing to order Flint officials to treat the water with anti-corrosive chemicals after switching from Detroit's water system — which drew from Lake Huron and used corrosion controls — to the Flint River as a cost-cutting move in April 2014.
The letter also said DEQ personnel had lapsed into a culture of "technical compliance" with federal water safety regulations and lost sight of the big-picture needed to "protect Michigan's citizens."
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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/snyder-aide-opposed-replacing-michigan-environmental-chief-37245308
