A third hearing at House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform on the Flint Water Crisis has called on both the EPA
Administrator Gina McCarthy and Michigan governor Rick Snyder to resign
due to lack of action in preventing the crisis. Though both the EPA
Administrator and the governor have no intention of resigning, they continue to
argue over whether the state or federal regulators are more to blame for delays
in addressing the crisis last year. Flint’s drinking water became contaminated
with lead after the city began using the Flint River in April 2014 without
using a chemical to control the corrosion of aging pipes.
Republicans on the committee were mostly angry at Ms.
McCarthy for failing to act more urgently last summer when she learned of the
city’s lead problem. Representative Jason Chaffetz (R), the committee’s
chairman, criticized Ms. McCarthy for waiting until January to take action despite
the fact that there was a memo written in June 2015 by an EPA water official
citing high lead levels at several Flint homes and the city’s failure at
implementing corrosion control. Ms. McCarthy defended her actions by blaming federal
rules that require states and the EPA to work together to ensure safe drinking
water systems. She said that though the EPA began to learn of the scope of the
contamination last summer, it was the state that waited until December to
implement corrosion control. McCarthy also said that the information provided
by water officials at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to the
EPA’s Region 5 office was confusing, incomplete and incorrect, delaying the
agency’s ability to understand the gravity of the situation. Democrats, on the other
hand, blamed the role of state regulators under Mr. Snyder. He appointed emergency
managers who took control of the city, leaving its mayor and city council with
little decision-making power. However, on Thursday, Mr. Snyder put more of the
blame on the EPA, saying that “inefficient, ineffective and unaccountable
bureaucrats at the EPA allowed this disaster to continue unnecessarily.”
Ms. McCarthy said her agency is working to revise
the outdated federal regulations rules intended to lessen the risks of lead in
drinking water, but that the rules as they stand now could have prevented
Flint’s water crisis had the state and city acted properly. Nevertheless, Republicans
blamed her for a lack of focus on the water rule while writing thousands of
other regulations.
Here we can clearly see the portrayal of bureaucracies
in the media. When they do something wrong, they are blamed for it, but otherwise
remain unnoticed. What do you think of this situation? Who is actually to
blame? McCarthy defended herself and the EPA by saying that she was restricted
by government regulations and received confusing information possibly due to
fragmentation. Does this justify her actions and remove the blame from the EPA?
6 comments:
The Environmental Protection Agency is certainly not to blame in this whole mess, but government regulations placed on her have been a problem with the EPA for years. In my AP Environmental Studies class, we've been watching an documentary titled "Gasland" about fracking and drilling in America. In the documentary, Weston Wilson, from the EPA is interviewed. He explains that in 2004, the EPA was investigating a water contamination incident due to hydraulic fracking in Alabama. However, a panel rejected the inquiry and said that although hazardous materials were being injected underground, there was no need for further investigation. Wilson wrote a letter to Congress, explaining that 5 of the 7 on the review board had conflicts of interest and would benefit if the EPA did not investigate. There is so much red tape when it comes to the EPA and investigations, making me very likely to believe McCarthy's defense. However, more should have been done by everyone involved.
I pretty much believe that almost everyone is to blame - the governor, the EPA, McCarthy and basically all facets of the American government. While I agree with Olivia about the fact that the EPA has no real power over the situation, I don't think this excuse is good enough. The EPA and the government are to work for the people, if they can't solve serious issues such as this they might as well be disregarded anyway. Even the notion that the EPA can't act on something like this is deeply troubling. The crisis we are currently seeing in Flint is something I'd expect to see in a developing or 3rd World country, not the world's 'most powerful' and 'advanced' nation. I believe that the situation should have been addressed by the EPA and the state immediately, with a serious large scale reaction. That being said, the state of Michigan is definitely at fault here. Rick Snyder's number one responsibility should be the well-being of his constituents. He clearly needed to take a more accurate postulation of the crisis' scope and inform state and federal officials immediately.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35835006
As Gursimar said, this is a perfect example of the media reinforcing the stereotype that bureaucracies are "inefficient, ineffective and unaccountable," however, in this case it is true. Governor Snyder says that the failure to fix the water contamination in Flint is a government failure on all levels of government, from local to state to federal. McCarthy, however, places full blame on the state. I agree with Snyder that all levels of government failed the families of Flint. It seems like a cop-out to me to say that the state provided "confusing, incomplete and incorrect information" to the regional office of the EPA; however I also don't doubt that the state incorrectly handled the analysis of the water and the situation. The way that this tragedy has been dealt with is deplorable. Mothers of sick children with lead poisoning were told by city and state officials, You need to wash your kid's hands more,' or 'Send them to day care, rather than let them play at a home that may have lead paint.'As King Pash said, not having access to clean water is a problem faced in third world countries, not here in America. Like Olivia, I am also watching Gaslands, which really brought to light how bureaucracies can be riddled with conflicts of interest, and I think this is particularly prevent in the EPA due to debate on prioritization of protecting the environment. It is the government's obligation to ensure the safety of its people and Flint shows that this is a duty that is not being fulfilled. Also, while I agree that it is important to determine who is at fault (although it may be many people and agencies), it is more important to solve the problem in a timely manner. More time should be spent on devising solutions rather than playing the blame game.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/04/health/flint-lead-exposure-long-term-pain/
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/03/16/rick-snyder-flint-water-crisis/81877720/
As Omar said before, I think that both the EPA and the governor of Michigan are at fault for this continued water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan. They both failed to take action when the crisis stared. Gina McCarthy blamed this on restrictive government regulations. However, I do not think that this is sufficient reason to excuse the EPA. Representative Jason Chaffetz from Utah even asked: “Why do we even need an EPA?”. If the Environmental Protection agency is not influential in both protecting the environment and the people of the United States, it is truly ineffective. Gina McCarthy should have taken immediate action in this situation because this is a crisis that is threatening people’s lives. The federal laws may be restrictive, but in that case she should have exercised discretion. The governor also did not take action when necessary to help the people of his own state. They both said that they will see this crisis to the end and that they have no plans of resigning their positions. Hopefully, they will be able to solve this crisis quickly and effectively.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/state-federal-officials-clash-over-flint-water-crisis-1458219959
This entire fiasco has been due to a complete lack of responsibility pertaining to the Flint water crisis. The EPA and the Michigan Governor never needed to solve the problem, and it did not help their own benefits to do so, so they didn't bother with it, even though the residents desperately needed the help. Furthering what King Pash has stated about the EPA needing to be more involved with the present problems of the American people, the EPA's main task should be helping the American people. In the past, they have pushed these small issues to be handled by the town or city, but as we can clearly see, this does not always work out in the end. Flint's disaster is a prime example of why government is viewed as inefficient. Most of the time, the EPA does a fine job, but in this one issue, they failed. And although this failure was a single issue, punishments must be made to those in charge, which in this case is the Michigan Governor and the EPA administrator.
If the meritocracy of the United States is to persevere, these men should certainly resign. Having covered up the content of the water these poor people were drinking for profit, these men definitely do not deserve a job serving the people of the United States. They exploited their position in a way that does not represent the wants of their constituency at all. In fact, these decisions actively hurt the citizens of Flint. Having not acted upon the problem when evidence when it first came out is frankly appalling. When I first heard about this problem, I was skeptical that people could consciously allow lead to enter a city's water supply. Unfortunately, incompetency prevailed, and McCarthy waited 6 months to do anything at all about the issue. In regards to her deflecting blame, she is totally to blame for covering up the issue. The citizens definitely should have been more aware of the extremely pressing threat to their health, and the information that the government perpetuated about the water was embarrassing. There were posters that said that it was ok for children to bathe in the water, they should just make sure not to get any in their mouth of nose.
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