Task force slams Flint crisis, demands review of emergency manager law

Source: Detroit Free Press

FLINT — A task force appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder issued a hard-hitting report on the Flint drinking water public health crisis, slamming the catastrophe as a story of "government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice."

The 116-page report said the state's controversial emergency manager law contributed to the lead contamination crisis by removing governmental checks and balances. It called for a review of the law and said Snyder should look for alternatives to the current approach that keeps locally elected officials more engaged.

The report also calls for creation of a Flint Toxic Exposure Registry "to include all the children and adults residing in Flint from April 2014 to present."

Though it puts most of the blame on the state Department of Environmental Quality, the report also singles out for blame the governor's office, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Flint emergency managers who Snyder appointed, the City of Flint, the Genesee County Health Department, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/03/23/snyder-appointed-task-force-calls-review-emergency-manager-law/82154780/