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The FBI on Tuesday said it was joining a criminal investigation of lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan, exploring whether laws were broken in a crisis that has captured international attention. Federal prosecutors in Michigan were working with an investigative team that included the FBI, the Postal Inspection Service, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General and its Criminal Investigation Division, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Detroit said. An FBI spokeswoman said the agency was determining whether federal laws were broken, but declined further comment.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy met with officials and community leaders in Flint and told reporters she could not give a timeline for fixing the problem. She said the agency was examining where it might have fallen short, but declined to address the criminal probes. The city, about 100km northwest of Detroit, Michigan, was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched the source of its tap water from Detroit’s system to the Flint River in April 2014. Flint switched back in October last year after tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who extended a state of emergency in Flint until April 14, has repeatedly apologized for the poor handling of the matter. The ability to seek criminal charges under US environmental laws is limited, said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and a former federal prosecutor. Prosecutors would need to find something egregious like a knowingly false statement. “You need something that is false to build a case,” he said. Simply failing to recognize the seriousness of the situation would not rise to that level, he added.
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A spokesman for Snyder rejected the report by the liberal group Progress Michigan on Thursday. Emails obtained by the group show Snyder's principal aide, Harvey Hollins, was made aware of the outbreak and a possible link to the use of Flint River water last March. Snyder said in January he had just learned about the rise in Legionnaires cases. "Are we to believe that a top staffer with years of experience would not inform Governor Snyder of a possibly deadly situation?" Progress Michigan Executive Director Lonnie Scott said in a statement.
The group cited an email from March 13, 2015, that showed Hollins and Dan Wyant, the former head of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), were aware of the increase in Legionnaires' disease in Genesee County, where Flint is located, and that a county health official was attributing the cases to the Flint River. State officials on Jan. 13 announced the spike in the disease resulting in 10 deaths possibly linked to the water crisis. In rejecting the group's claims, a spokesman for Snyder said that the DEQ emails called attributing the link to problems with Flint water "beyond irresponsible."
The front of the Flint Water Plant is seen in Flint, Michigan
Hollins asked the department to investigate and if the concerns were credible it was to tell Snyder, the spokesman said in an email. "The issue was not brought to the Governor’s attention until January of this year," he said. Flint, a city near Detroit, was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched the source of its tap water from Detroit's system to the Flint River in April 2014.
The city switched back last October after tests found high levels of lead in children's blood samples. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did. Lead is a toxic agent that can damage the nervous system. Legionnaires is a type of pneumonia caused by inhaling mist infected with the bacteria Legionella.. Several Democratic lawmakers on Thursday invited Snyder to Washington to testify on the Flint water crisis on Feb. 10.
Michigan emails show officials knew of Flint water disease risk
Uh....what? Then why is Flint such an outrage?
so excuse me for being a bit late to this, but what exactly is the problem? I am very confused by this entire ordeal. Where are the lead pipes at? Didn't they exist when Flint received Detroit water? What the fk?Uh....what? Then why is Flint such an outrage?
Because the goddamn government needs to do its fucking job and fix the problem.
If there's no Republican to blame, it didn't happen.
