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Congressional Agency Says EPA Has Failed to Respond to Flint's Water Crisis

The Congressional Research Service says the US Environmental Protection Agency should use its emergency powers to intervene in Flint's water crisis.
Photo by Molly Riley/AP

A non-partisan congressional agency said this week the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to use its emergency powers in response to the discovery of lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan.

The Congressional Research Service report says the responsibility for ensuring compliance with the US Safe Drinking Water Act falls with a state. If the EPA discovers that a water provider isn't in compliance with the law, it needs to notify the state and the water company and provide them assistance. And if a state doesn't take action within 30 days, the federal agency should step in and enforce the law.

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"EPA has not used this authority in Flint," the report says.

In response, the EPA deflected blame toward Michigan state officials.

"EPA worked within the framework of the law to repeatedly and urgently communicate the steps the state needed to take to properly treat Flint's water," the agency said.

Related: Flint Residents Paid the Highest Rates in the US for Their Lead-Contaminated Water

For decades Flint relied on water from Detroit's utility company. Following a rate hike, Flint's state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley oversaw a switch from Detroit's water supply to the Flint River in an effort to save the floundering city $5 million over two years. Despite warnings to public officials, the corrosive river water was not properly treated and the city's aging pipes began leaching lead. Some public officials downplayed evidence that the water was contaminated and the mostly African-American city of 100,000 was exposed to a toxin known to cause brain damage — especially in children.

The EPA referred to the Flint situation, and the city's switch to untreated water, as "highly unusual."

"EPA's ability to oversee [the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's] management of that situation was impacted by resistance and failures at the state and local levels to work with EPA in a forthright, transparent, and proactive manner consistent with the seriousness of the risks to public health," the agency said.

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A special investigator appointed by the state's attorney general to investigate Flint's water crisis said earlier this month that manslaughter charges could be brought against officials responsible for any deaths caused by the city's tainted water.

In a January editorial, The Detroit News cast blame on both state and federal agencies.

"The state was too slow to respond to Flint's crisis, and information will continue to be released about why that happened," the paper wrote. "But so was the EPA."

Related: The Michigan Officials Responsible for Flint's Water Crisis Could Face Manslaughter Charges

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