EPA Action is Good but Flint's “Poisoned Pipes” Need Fixing

CHICAGO (January 21, 2016) – The Environmental Protection Agency just released an emergency Safe Drinking Water Act order to address the ongoing drinking water issues in Flint, Michigan, four months after the Natural Resources Defense Council, ACLU of Michigan and residents of Flint petitioned the EPA to take similar action. In addition, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy announced she had accepted the resignation of EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman. 

Following is reaction to the EPA’s action from NRDC Midwest Director Henry Henderson:

“The EPA’s previous response to Flint was, frankly, part of the problem.

“This new, more urgent approach shows different thinking from the top, reflects an awareness that the situation in Flint is just unacceptable, and it points the Agency in the right direction. However, we remain very concerned that the people of Flint cannot simply rely on agencies that have to date utterly failed them.

“Flint faces another looming effort to secure a safe drinking water source this summer and we think the courts are going to have to step in to ensure that the right decisions are made to both ensure the success of their new water source and that Flint’s poisoned pipes are fixed and replaced.”

In October, 2015, NRDC filed a petition for Emergency Action in Flint with the EPA

http://www.nrdc.org/media/2015/151001a.asp

More on the Flint situation from NRDC’s Switchboard blog at:

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/hhenderson/flint_still_flubbed_more_answe.html

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/hhenderson/epa_flakes_on_flint_guest_post.html

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/hhenderson/poisoning_people_the_future_an.html