Emergency order for Flint water crisis should have come sooner, EPA admits
Source: The Guardian
The Environmental Protection Agency should have issued an emergency order to address the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, seven months before it eventually decided to take action, according to a report from the agency’s inspector general.
The EPA’s office of inspector general on Thursday said the agency had the authority and “sufficient information” to act far sooner than it did to address vast lead contamination in the city.
“These situations should generate a greater sense of urgency,” said Arthur Elkins, the inspector general, in a statement. “Federal law provides the EPA with emergency authority to intervene when the safety of drinking water is compromised. Employees must be knowledgeable, trained and ready to act when such a public health threat looms.”
Flint’s water became contaminated with lead in April 2014, when a state-appointed emergency manager decided to switch the city’s water source to a local river. The state’s environmental agency failed to require the city to use corrosion control to prevent lead from leaching off water pipes and flowing into households.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/20/flint-water-crisis-epa-emergency-order-slow
Ryan Felton in Detroit
Thursday 20 October 2016 20.43 BST
