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U.S. NEWSWednesday 16 March 2016
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American Living
Ex-officials point fingers at hearing on Flint water crisis
RICHARD LARDNER
MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — For-
mer city and federal offi-
cials pointed fingers at one
another for failing to pro-
tect the 100,000 citizens of
Flint, Michigan, from lead-
laced water at a congres-
sional hearing Tuesday as
Republicans targeted for
blame an Environmental
Protection Agency execu-
tive who resigned as the
crisis worsened.
Amid withering criticism, Su-
san Hedman sought to de-
fend the EPA’s actions to
deal with the contamina-
tion in the predominantly
African-American city. “I
don’t think anyone at EPA
did anything wrong, but I
do believe we could have
done more,” said Hedman,
the former director of the
EPA’s Midwest regional of-
fice.
Hedman stepped down
Feb. 1 over what she called
“false allegations” that
portrayed her as sitting on
the sidelines during the
crisis and that she “down-
played concerns raised
by an EPA scientist about
lead in the water.” The sci-
entist Hedman was refer-
ring to is Miguel Del Toral, a
regulations manager in the
groundwater and drinking
water branch of the Mid-
west office.
Hedman denied the EPA
had disciplined Del Toral,
who had warned of dan-
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From left, former State EPA administrator Susan Hedman, former Flint, Mich., Emergency Manager in Michigan also failed to
Darnell Earley, former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, and Virginia Tech environmental engineering act.
professor Marc Edwards are sworn in to testify before the House Oversight and Government Re- The committee released
form Committee, in Washington, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. several internal EPA emails,
including a Sept. 22 mes-
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) sage from Del Toral to his
supervisors that outlined
gerously high levels of lead from aging pipes leached mittee on Thursday, along his frustration with what he
in a June 2015 memo and into Flint homes and busi- with EPA Administrator Gina called the agency’s “de-
later criticized the agency nesses. Elevated levels of McCarthy. nial and delay” approach
for not taking swift action. lead have been found in Virginia Tech professor in Flint.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R- children’s blood. Lead con- Marc Edwards, who helped “At every stage of this
Utah, chairman of the tamination has been linked expose the lead prob- process, it seems that we
House Oversight and Gov- to learning disabilities and lem in Flint’s water and is spend more time trying to
ernment Reform Commit- other problems. now assisting both the city maintain state/local rela-
tee, said Hedman “dis- The chain of events has and state, accused Hed- tionships than we do trying
missed” Del Toral’s warn- spurred calls for Republi- man and the EPA of “will- to protect the children,”
ings. can Gov. Rick Snyder to re- ful blindness” and for be- Del Toral wrote.
“You screwed up and you sign amid outrage over the ing unrepentant and unre- Hedman told the commit-
ruined people’s lives,” treatment of the people of morseful in the aftermath of tee that she first learned
Chaffetz told Hedman. Flint. A longshot recall effort the crisis. that Flint was not imple-
Flint switched its water is under way in Michigan The committee’s top Dem- menting corrosion control
source from Detroit’s wa- for Snyder, who has been ocrat, Rep. Elijah Cum- treatment in late June 2015.
ter system to the Flint River widely blamed in Michigan mings of Maryland, said That was about 14 months
in 2014 to save money, and nationally for the crisis. he agreed the EPA could after the city started using
but the river water was not The governor is scheduled have done more. But Cum- Flint River water that was
treated properly and lead to appear before the com- mings said state authorities not treated with orthophos-
phate, a chemical used for
corrosion control, she says.
Choking up at one point,
Hedman said that although
she has left government
service she has not stopped
thinking about the people
of Flint. The EPA respond-
ed within the “coopera-
tive federalism framework”
of the Safe Drinking Wa-
ter Act, Hedman testified,
which assigns states the le-
gal authority to implement
drinking water regulations.
She said the EPA’s enforce-
ment options under the law
are more constrained than
in other federal environ-
mental statutes.q