From Claire Bernish at theantimedia.org:
(ANTIMEDIA) “It’s outrageous that this sort of government-made catastrophe would happen anywhere in the United States,” Representative Justin Amash said Wednesday as he opened his allotted time period to question a panel before Congress about the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan. “The State of Michigan needs to provide comprehensive assistance to the people of Flint; and the state has the resources, I can assure you that as a former state legislator.”
In his characteristic calm and collected manner, Amash quickly pulled the painful truth from just two members of the decidedly small four-member panel — the lead contamination of the Flint water supply wouldn’t have happened if the city had followed the law.
First, Amash established that while the state spends $33 million on its notorious Pure Michigan advertising campaign, it has only shelled out “$28 million to make sure the people of Flint have pure water.” Without using his name, Amash also noted the“nonsensical” absence from the panel of the “one person probably most culpable in this situation” who “won’t take responsibility for it” — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.
Keith Creagh, Interim Director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, answered several basic questions from Amash to establish his department’s role in the crisis, noting “it’s highly unusual across this country [for a city] to go from one water source to another.”
Turning to Virginia Tech Environmental and Water Resources Professor and Water Interagency Coordinating Committee member Marc Edwards, the scope of governmental culpability in the Flint lead crisis quickly became clear.
“We know that not enough phosphates were added to the water to make it less corrosive,” Amash began. “What’s the cost of treating the water with the appropriate amount of phosphates?”
“When the switch was made, there was actually no phosphate added at all. No corrosion control. Federal law was not followed,” Edwards stated.
“No phosphates at all?” Amash interrupted.
“Nothing. Had they done the minimum allowable under the law, which would have been to continue the phosphate dosing — which in Detroit water, it would’ve cost $80 to $100 a day.”
To continue reading: Flint Officials Could Have Prevented Lead Crisis for $80 a Day, Broke Federal Law Instead
