FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan
November 10, 2015
Contact: Sam Inglot, 616-916-0574, sam@progressmichigan.org
Progress Michigan Statement on EPA Audit of Michigan Water Oversight
Audit is step in right direction; more scrutiny needed on decision makers
LANSING — Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would audit how Michigan oversees public water supplies. The audit is in response to the Flint water crisis caused by the indifference of Gov. Rick Snyder, emergency managers in Flint and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to the suffering of the residents in Flint due to austerity measures that put lead in the drinking water.
“There are several smoking guns that show how the state and emergency manager improperly handled this water situation and we need solutions going forward to prevent it from happening again,” said Hugh Madden, communications director at Progress Michigan “However, we can only guarantee true accountability if those responsible for knowingly poisoning children and the people of Flint are investigated for criminal wrongdoing.”
The audit is expected to take several months to complete and will be released to the public once it is finalized. Progress Michigan has called for Michigan’s U.S. Attorneys, Pat Miles and Barbara McQuade, to open criminal investigations into the actions that led to the catastrophic failure in the Flint water system.
“Decisions were made that directly led to poisonous materials leaching into the drinking water in Flint,” Madden continued. “The people of Michigan deserve clean, safe drinking water as well as real accountability for those who failed to provide it.”
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