Governor Snyder last
week testified in front of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee. The Governor was questioned for nearly four hours regarding the Flint
Emergency Manager (EM) situation and the city’s water crisis.
Governor Snyder
admitted in testimony that in the particular case in Flint, the EM system had
failed. When asked if there were any need for changes to the law,
Communications Director Ari Adler said the Governor continues to support a full
investigation, but believes the root of the crisis was a failure of government
at all levels. Governor Snyder’s task force believes the largest failure stems
from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) failing to use
corrosion control treatment.
When asking their
questions, committee members were relentless and did not hold back on
criticizing Mr. Snyder. Representative Brendan Boyle (D-Pennsylvania) asked if
Snyder believes he has a moral obligation to resign, to which he responded he
is committed to fixing the problem. Representative Boyle was among several
Congressmen on the committee who suggested Governor Snyder resign.
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy was quick in her testimony to
vilify the MDEQ, commenting they implied they were using corrosion control
treatment when they were not. She commented the EPA did not receive the
information regarding the water levels until July 21st, and from
there the agency told MDEQ “you do it or we’ll do it, [and] they said we’ll do
it”. Ms. McCarthy was quick to say the state continually dragged their feet, to
which Governor Snyder cited three EPA emails showing no sense of urgency to
force the DEQ to intervene. Many committee members also suggested Ms. McCarthy
should resign, or even be impeached.
Days following the
hearing held much strategizing and movement forward. The Genesee County Board
of Commissioners sent a letter requesting the state reimburse the county for
costs related to the crisis. The amount requested is more than $1 million. Ari
Adler responded that once the Governor receives the letter, it will be
reviewed. The Governor meanwhile outlined a Flint action plan. The plan
includes short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term goals addressing health
care, education, infrastructure, and economic improvements. The goal does not
include plans to replace piping; something Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is ready to
dig ground on. As part of her “Fast Start” program, Ms. Weaver has identified
the remaining 29 homes where service lines would be replaced by the end of the
month. Despite these improvements, Ms. Weaver remains critical of the Governor
for moving too slowly.