One question seemed to be on everyone’s lips at the first congressional hearing on the lead water crisis in Flint, Mich.: Where’s Gov. Rick Snyder?
Snyder was introducing a state budget Wednesday that would cover 65 percent of the water and sewage fees paid by Flint residents for water they can’t currently use. But many members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee thought he should be in their hearing room answering questions about his role in the crisis.
“Can anybody tell me why the governor of Michigan is not here today?” asked Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa.
He answered his own question: “Because he’s hiding. That’s what’s happening.”
Committee Democrats all signed a letter to Chairman Jason Chaffetz to compel Snyder, a Republican, to testify in front of the committee. Despite those calls, Chaffetz and his staff declined to invite Snyder to testify.
Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee, said he asked House Speaker Paul Ryan to pressure Chaffetz into bringing Snyder before the committee.
“This is now on the level of the speaker and we will know soon,” he said.
The Michigan contingent of the committee was unhappy to see only Keith Creagh, the new head of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, appearing on the panel of witnesses.
In addition to Snyder, no former emergency managers attended the hearing. Former Emergency Manager Darnell Earley’s attorney refused to accept a subpoena to testify, and Ed Kurtz, who made the decision to use Flint River water, and Jerry Ambrose, who refused a motion from the Flint City Council to stop using the water, were not invited.
Dan Wyant, the former head of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, was not invited. Creagh took over from Wyant after he stepped down due to his organization’s bungling of the response to the Flint water crisis.
“They should come and they should answer questions,” said Rep. Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich.
Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., called for an independent and nonpartisan investigation.
Amash said he’s unhappy with the state’s response and pointed to the lack of money that has been sent to Flint. He said the state spends $33 million per year on its Pure Michigan advertising campaign, but has sent $28 million to the city to help with the crisis.
“I’d like to have some more people here,” he told the panel of witnesses. “It’s unfortunate … that we only have the four of you.”
Flint’s congressman, Rep. Dan Kildee, said Snyder and other state officials should have to answer for the situation because it was their policies that put it in motion.
He said it’s clear that state officials need to be asked about how the situation happened. He accused state officials of trying to shift the blame for the crisis to the city council, which voted to switch water providers but never voted on using the Flint River as a water source.
It was water from that river that was so corrosive that it caused the lead pipes leading to Flint homes to leach into the drinking water. LeAnne Walters, whose home is considered Ground Zero for the crisis, said the levels in her house average 2,500 parts per billion, according to tests she performed.
“Anyone who had a role in making these decisions needs to be called to testify,” he said. “If that means the governor, if that means the emergency managers, anyone who can add to this conversation should.”
The fact that none of the government witnesses called on Wednesday could answer questions about what exactly happened in their departments caused frustration among committee members.
“We’re having a hearing here in Washington, D.C., with witnesses who do not have personal knowledge of the subject,” Cartwright said. “How crazy is that? How interested are we really in getting to the facts when they bring here witnesses who don’t know what went on?”
A spokesman for Snyder did not respond to a request for comment.
