Amid calls for his recognition, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was officially questioned by the Senate over the Flint Water Crisis. While testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in Washington D.C. Thursday (March 17), Snyder sidestepped full blame calling the health crisis a “failure of government on all levels.”
Snyder asserts that he didn’t find out about the water crisis, which dates back to 2014, until last October. “Local, state, and federal officials – we all failed the families of Flint,” he said a prepared statement.
Snyder also faulted the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and says that he took “immediate action” once informed. “Not a day goes by that this tragedy doesn’t weigh on my mind,” he said. “The questions I should’ve asked, the answers I should have demanded…how I could have prevented this.”
The Environmental Protection Agency, who has been criticized along with Snyder, testified at the hearing as well. EPA leader Gina McCarthy said Thursday that the agency was “misled” about the severity of the water crisis.
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Photo: screencap
