WASHINGTON—The Environmental Protection Agency had sufficient authority and information to issue an emergency order to protect residents of Flint, Michigan, from lead-contaminated water as early as June 2015 — seven months before it declared an emergency, the EPA’s inspector general said Thursday. The Flint crisis should have generated “a greater sense of urgency” at the agency to “intervene when the safety of drinking water is compromised,” Inspector General Arthur Elkins said in an interim report. Flint’s drinking water became tainted when the city began drawing from the Flint River in April 2014 to save money. Regulators failed to ensure water was treated properly and lead from aging pipes leached into the water supply. Rick Snyder, R-Mich., concluded that the state is “fundamentally accountable” for the lead crisis because of decisions made by state environmental regulators and state-appointed emergency managers who controlled the city.

Source: thestar October 20, 2016 18:59 UTC