FLINT, MI -- The Flint Water Advisory Task Force turned in a preliminary report on Flint's water crisis, saying the responsibility ultimately falls to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
After the report was released Tuesday, Dec. 29, DEQ Director Dan Wyant and department spokesman Brad Wurfel resigned. In addition, Gov. Rick Snyder apologized Tuesday to the people of Flint and pledged to work with the city to resolve its lead-in-water crisis.
In the report, the task force points out three key areas where members said the MDEQ failed the Flint community. Read what it had to say about each area below:
Regulatory failure
"We believe in the Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance (ODWMA) at MDEQ, a culture exists in which 'technical compliance' is considered sufficient to ensure safe drinking water in Michigan. The minimalist approach to regulatory and oversight responsibility is unacceptable and simply insufficient to the task of public protection. It led to the MDEQ's failure to recognize a number of indications that switching the water source in Flint would -- and did -- compromise both water safety and water quality. The MDEQ made a number of decisions that were, and continue to be, justified on the basis that federal rules 'allowed' those decisions to be made. ODWMA must adopt a posture that is driven not by this minimalist technical compliance approach, but rather by one that is founded on what needs to be done to assure drinking water safety."
Failure in substance and tone of MDEQ response to the public
"Throughout 2015, as the public raised concerns and as independent studies and testing were conducted and brought to the attention of MDEQ, the agency's response was often one of aggressive dismissal, belittlement, and attempts to discredit these efforts and the individuals involved. We find both the tone and substance of many MDEQ public statements to be completely unacceptable. In a real way, the MDEQ represents the public, including the very individuals it treated dismissively and disrespectfully in public statements. We recognize that the agency might disagree with the opinions of others on a variety of issues, including testing protocol, interpretation of testing results, the requirements of federal law and rules, other matters. What is disturbing about MDEQ's responses, however, is their persistent tone of scorn and derision. In fact, the MDEQ seems to have been more determined to discredit the work of others -- who ultimately proved to be right -- than to pursue its own oversight responsibility."
Failure in MDEQ interpretation of the lead and copper rule
The federal Lead and Cooper Rule (LCR) is central to what happened in Flint, because that rule, at least theoretically, is designed to prevent lead and copper contamination of drinking water. The federal LCR calls for 'optimized corrosion control treatment,' which the MDEQ did not require in the switch to the Flint River. Prior to the switch, MDEQ staff instructed city of Flint water treatment staff that corrosion control treatment (CCT) was not necessary until two six-month monitoring periods had been conducted. The need for CCT would be evaluated after the results from those two monitoring periods were reviewed. The decision not to require CCT, made at the direction of the MDEQ, led directly to the contamination of the Flint water system.
The task force is still looking into
A long-term financing of a model health public program and also replacement of lead-containing water service lines and fixtures, heightened lead dangers awareness for the public and holding people responsible for the Flint water crisis, including employees with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.