Snyder-Appointed Task Force: “Primary Responsibility” for Flint Water Crisis Lies with State
Kildee: State Must Step Up and Do More to Help Flint Families, City Recover
WASHINGTON – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Dan Kildee (MI-05) today issued the following statement after a task force appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder released its final report on the Flint water crisis, finding that the state of Michigan bears the responsibility for the man-made crisis:
“The Governor’s appointed task force today concluded what many in Flint already know: primary responsibility for the water crisis lies with the state of Michigan and the Governor’s own policies. The independent investigation found that Governor Snyder’s appointed emergency financial managers made the key decisions that contributed to this public health emergency.
“Accountability is important to ensuring that a similar crisis never happens again. But the state of Michigan, who created this crisis, must step up and do more to help Flint recover. Governor Snyder has repeatedly said he is taking responsibility for the man-made crisis he created. But Flint deserves more than an apology – responsibility is making it right for the people of Flint. So far, the state’s response hasn’t even come close to what is needed.
“After months and months, the people of Flint still do not have clean drinking water. It is incomprehensible to me that the Governor continues to sit on a billion dollars that he doesn’t know what to do with, between the state’s Rainy Day fund and projected budget surplus. Governor Snyder can – and should – act immediately to free up additional resources for Flint.”
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Below is a press clip summary of today’s task force report:
“Flint water task force places blame for crisis with the state”
“The 62-page report chides the DEQ’s handling of the crisis, and knocks the ongoing effort of state officials to place blame for the crisis at multiple levels of government.”
“Even as the state is aggressively engaged in mitigation efforts in Flint, the statement that the Flint water crisis was a local, state, and federal failure implies that blame is attributable equally to all three levels of government,” the report claims. “Primary responsibility for the water contamination in Flint lies with MDEQ.”
“…the task force focused on the failings of state government at multiple levels, particularly its handling of Flint while the city was under the control of emergency managers put in place by Snyder.”
“’Neither the governor nor the governor’s office took steps to reverse poor decisions by MDEQ and state-appointed emergency managers until October 2015, in spite of mounting problems and suggestions to do so by senior staff members in the governor’s office, in part because of continued reassurances from MDEQ that the water was safe,’ the report reads.”
“‘Emergency managers made key decisions that contributed to the crisis, from the use of the Flint River to delays in reconnecting to DWSD (Detroit Water and Sewerage Department) once water quality problems were encountered,” a report summary reads. “Given the demographics of Flint, the implications for environmental injustice cannot be ignored or dismissed.’”
“The 116-page report said the state’s controversial emergency manager law contributed to the lead contamination crisis by removing governmental checks and balances. It called for a review of the law…”
“Recommendations include: A culture change for the DEQ, especially the Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, to “refocus the department on its primary mission to protect human health and the environment.”
