The Environmental Protection Agency updated staffers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the lead water crisis in a Michigan city Thursday, according to an aide.
A bipartisan group of committee staffers met with Peter Grevatt, director of the EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, about the situation in Flint on Thursday afternoon. A committee aide reported the staffers were looking for information about what the EPA knew about the crisis and when.
“The people of Flint, Michigan, deserve answers. Today’s bipartisan staff briefing was to learn more details about the Flint water crisis, specifically — what the EPA knew and when, the relationships between EPA and the state, and EPA and the city,” the aide said.
“Vital questions still remain. Moving forward, Chairman [Fred] Upton and the committee will continue to closely monitor the situation and request information from all pertinent federal agencies.”
In April 2014, Flint switched its water source from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, which draws water from Lake Huron, to a local agency that also would take water from the lake.
However, the infrastructure needed to get water from Lake Huron to Flint under the new agency was not yet built, so an emergency manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder decided to take water from the Flint River as a temporary measure.
The water from the Flint River is so polluted and acidic that the water ate away at the lead pipes bringing water to the city’s homes.
Emails released by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Wednesday showed an EPA scientist told state officials about possible issues concerning lead in the city’s drinking water in February 2015.
However, the EPA did not go public with that information, instead leaving the crisis in the hands of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy defended her organization’s decision earlier this week.
“EPA did its job but clearly the outcome was not what anyone would have wanted,” she said Monday. “So we’re going to work with the state, we’re going to work with Flint. We’re going to take care of the problem.”
The EPA is now in a support role in the federal response to the Flint situation.
The Department of Health and Human Services is now the point organization due to the administration’s belief that the crisis is a public health situation.
House Energy Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., spoke by phone with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on Tuesday and emphasized the need for a quick solution.
“I expressed to Secretary Burwell the urgency of the situation and she assured me that they want to work with Michigan to get this done right … and quickly,” Upton said. “They intend to do everything appropriate to resolve the issue and I intend to continue to work with all parties on behalf of the residents of Flint, and the entire state.”
