Congress Republicans close probe into Flint water crisis
State, EPA both at fault, report says
WASHINGTON Congressional Republicans quietly closed a yearlong investigation into the crisis over lead in drinking water in Flint, Mich., faulting both state officials and the Environmental Protection Agency for contamination that has affected nearly 100,000 residents.
In letters to fellow Republicans, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said on Dec. 16 that Michigan and federal officials were slow in detecting high levels of lead in the water and did not act fast enough once the problem was discovered.
The committee findings offer no new information and essentially summarize what emerged during several high-profile hearings earlier this year.
“The committee found significant problems at Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality and unacceptable delays in the Environmental Protection Agency’s response to the crisis,” wrote Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.
Flint’s drinking water became tainted when the city switched from the Detroit water system and began drawing from the Flint River in April 2014 to save money. The impoverished city was under state control at the time.
Regulators failed to ensure the water was treated properly and lead from aging pipes leached into the water supply.
After nearly a year of haggling, Congress cleared legislation last week to provide $170 million to deal with the Flint crisis and help other communities with leadtainted water.
In his letters to fellow GOP lawmakers, Chaffetz cites “a series of failures at all levels of government” that “caused and then exacerbated the water crisis.”
While the Republican chairman signalled the apparent conclusion of the inquiry — Congress ended its two-year session last week — the panel’s senior Democrat insisted the investigation should continue and accused Michigan’s Republican governor of stonewalling the committee over documents related to the Flint water crisis.
Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, senior Democrat on the oversight panel, said he wants Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to produce key Flint-related documents within 30 days. Cummings said Snyder and his administration have obstructed the committee’s investigation into the Flint crisis for a year, refusing to provide — or even search for — key documents.
Snyder’s intransigence has thwarted committee efforts to answer critical questions about what he knew as the crisis unfolded and why he didn’t act sooner to fix Flint’s water problem, Cummings said.
“Requiring Governor Snyder to finally comply with the committee’s request will allow us to complete our investigation and offer concrete findings and recommendations to help prevent a catastrophe like this from happening again,” Cummings wrote to Chaffetz.
It’s highly unlikely Republicans who control Congress will continue the inquiry next year.
A spokeswoman for Snyder said the governor’s office has provided the committee with hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and the committee has wrapped up its investigation.