After Flint, Watchdog exhorts E.P.A. monitor more closely the drinking water

The environmental protection agency, which could not have intervened earlier and halted the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, explained that "the environment protection agency, which has not been able to intervene earlier and stop the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has explained that". it was necessary to radically change the way the federal authorities monitor drinking water systems. The Office of the Inspector General of the EPA said that management's weaknesses have hindered the agency's response to lead shots and other contaminants that have poisoned Flint's drinking water since more than a year and that the federal authorities should have taken more forceful measures. "While Flint residents were exposed to lead in drinking water, the federal response was delayed, in part, because the EPA has not clearly established roles and responsibilities, risk assessment procedures, effective communication and proactive monitoring tools, "said the 74-page report.

The Inspector General has called on the EPA to annually audit states for s & # 39; Ensure that they comply with the federal lead and copper rules, pay particular attention to Michigan regulators and improve the federal response to emergencies related to contamination of the environment.

EPA Officials said that they accepted the recommendations, although some Democrats said they were skeptical about the fact that stricter control would happen so Trump Administration.

"You must go out there and do the surveillance," said the Democratic deputy. the Flint zone. "He must be much more aggressive."

The report arrives more than four years after Flint, a financially troubled city of just under 100,000 inhabitants, has changed its source of drinking water to the Flint River. The move was intended to save money, but the authorities have failed to treat the river water with the necessary chemicals that prevent the pipes from corroding. Residents ended up with discolored and smelly water, which government officials insisted on for months, even as residents complained of rashes and illnesses.

The E.P.A. The Inspector General has already blamed the agency's response to Flint, and residents have blamed tainted water at all levels of government, especially the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, which is responsible drinking water in the state. Several local and state officials have been charged with crimes for their roles in the city's water crisis.

The new report called for more aggressive federal surveillance of states and cited instances where the E.P.A. could have used his authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act to intervene earlier and more vigorously in Flint.

"Flint's water crisis demonstrates that public health is not protected when E.P.A. Regional staff – with several warning signs – do not use "the authority of the agency under federal law," the report says.

Enesta Jones, spokesman for the EPA, said in a statement. is actively working with states to improve communications and compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to protect human health.

The errors and laxity of the EPA described in the report occurred during the administration of President Barack Obama. But the practical approach to regulation that the Inspector General has advocated contrasts with the Trump Administration's preferences, including E.P.A. leaders have sought to give more authority to public and local bodies.

The report was perceived by some as a powerful warning to other cities and states not to depart from federal drinking water standards.

that Flint was a serious government failure, and that this failure has consequences for other municipalities, "said Peter Jacobson, Emeritus Professor of Law and Health Policy at the University of Michigan. "Flint is not the only country where lead levels in the water are high and where lead levels in the water are not monitored."

The nation's focus on the Flint crisis has dissipated. The teams are only in the middle of a plan to replace the lead water pipes in all the occupied houses of the city. Many residents were outraged earlier this year when Michigan authorities ended the free distribution of bottled water and insisted that the city's water was now meeting federal lead standards.

Eric Mays, Flint City Council Member. Flint's situation was forcing an account at the EPA and other agencies that dropped his city. "Flint woke up the country and woke up this agency," he said.

But the city remains wary. Mr. Mays only drinks bottled water.