it was approved by epa. and is not caused or interfered with south dakota staying in compliance with the national standards. south dakota has joined florida's lawsuit against the rule along with 15 other states. the final rule that highlights the lack of cooperative federalism is the carbon dioxide standard for existing power plants. in 2012 which is the base that epa used, 74% of the power generated in south dakota came from renewable sources. in spite of this remarkable record epa threatens the economic viability of the fossil fuel fired power plants we have in the united states and could strand the regional haze controls mentioned. here again our attorney general joined lawsuits against the rule most notably with west virginia. the bottom line is these requirements will have a huge impact on our citizens and on our economy. but will produce little or no noticeable benefits in south dakota. for this reason, we believe each state should have the right and the free dom to address these issues individually, u

not the epa. governor snyder's administration chose to switch to the flint river for a source of water. not the epa. governor snyder's administration ignored warnings from the flint water treatment plant supervisor not to go forward with the switch, not the epa. governor snyder's administration falsely told the city of flint that corrosion control was unnecessary, not the epa. governor snyder's administration delayed corrosion control for months and harmed thousands of additional people in the process. not the epa. governor snyder's administration overruled the flint city council's vote to return to clean detroit water, not the epa. as i close, so yes, i agree, the epa should have snatched control out of governor snyder's hands even sooner than they did, but governor snyder's administration caused this horrific disaster, on the children of flint. on the governor's website his motto is, and i quote, "reinventing michigan, getting it right, getting it done," end of quote. it's hard to imagine a more

of the epa rule. this is a critical and necessary first step to make epa once again were the undeserving of the public trust in its noble mission. >> thank you thank you mr. edwards, we appreciate it. >> now to go to questioning will first recognize a gentleman from michigan. >> i appreciate the fact that we are in a hearing and will have another hearing and we are intent in getting answers, and ultimately addressing the concerns of people of children that we have the privilege to see this we can flint standing along our colleague. we want answers but we won action and ultimately we want solution. this hedman, you say in your testimony, i will reiterate it again the bad news is that this should never have happened, looking at the faces of the children, the community members there in flint on saturday they would concur with you as i would concur with you as well that you went on to say, as did gina mccarthy, administrator of the epa in the article just refer to was in shock and all you made them today

did the epa do anything wrong? gina mccarthy: the epa worked very hard. rep. chaffetz: i have another question for you. hold on. -- mark edwards has testified here twice. he wants good quality health for , clean and he wants good water. and he happens to know the science behind the water. on those two hearings, did mr. edwards say anything that you think was wrong, or maybe inaccurate? you think mr. edwards is that anything that was wrong or inaccurate in any of those testimonies? gina mccarthy: i don't think he was at all informed about epa. he doesn't know how we are supposed to work in the system. he doesn't understand that the problem itself was a responsibility of the state. oversight was our responsibility. we took that seriously, and we contacted it. does that mean i don't have regrets, because i don't -- rep. chaffetz: that is cheap. we just got regrets. that is cheap. that is cheap. gina mccarthy: you have to look at the way the law works. rep. chaffetz: and it failed. you said, if there is any, anything i could do, you had that under the law, and you

on behalf of the epa? >> that is not what i said in any testimony or in my answer to the questions to the gentlemen. >> so the epa is at fault? >> i said that i thought we could have done more. >> listen, that's political speak. are you at fault or not? yes or no. >> in what respect? >> in any respect, i guess, ms. hedman. here's the problem. we've got children who have been harmed and yet we're sitting here equivocating over words that may or may not establish blame and i'm concerned that what we're doing is we're just wiping our hands of it and saying that i had nothing to do with it. is that your testimony? >> it's not. >> is epa partially at fault? >> i believe we could have done more. >> all right. let me go on a little bit further. mr. edwards, in our last time when you were here before this exact same committee, i asked you about a foia request from the epa because you had gotten lots of information from michigan and zero from the epa. did you ever get your foia request responded to? >> no. they're

epa did not force us to do so. chose to take responsibility to implement these important regulatory programs in our state because we know how important they are to health, safety, and prosperity. on cleando we rely air, water, and land to protect the health of our people, but vermont has a land-based economy. our top industries include agriculture and forestry. people come from all over the world to swim in our lakes, hike in our forests. this is not all. in our manufacturing and high-tech sectors, every sector of business and industry in vermont, it is the natural beauty of our state and pristine environment that allows us to attract good jobs and high quality employees. by managing these delegated programs, vermont can ensure our state is protected through regulation, assistance, and enforcement. it is even more important in light of a highly charged political dialogue here in washington. who rules promulgated by epa take time and effort to rulesent -- while promulgated by epa take time and effort to implement, w

it was approved by epa. and is not caused or interfered with south dakota staying in compliance with the national standards. south dakota has joined florida's lawsuit against the rule along with 15 other states. the final rule that highlights the lack of cooperative federalism is the carbon dioxide standard for existing power plants. in 2012 which is the base that epa used, 74% of the power generated in south dakota came from renewable sources. in spite of this remarkable record epa threatens the economic viability of the fossil fuel fired power plants we have in the united states and could strand the regional haze controls mentioned. here again our attorney general joined lawsuits against the rule most notably with west virginia. the bottom line is these requirements will have a huge impact on our citizens and on our economy. but will produce little or no noticeable benefits in south dakota. for this reason, we believe each state should have the right and the free dom to address these issues individually, u

the epa has to address. it is unfair for kids in ryeland not to play on the summer day because it is a bad day as the epa? down more and more hour bad-- are diminishing but it took the epa to get after the state's our happy to go along with it because they've made their pollution somebody else's problem so for the record our engagement is terrific we don't have complaints we talk back and forth and we're very open with no problem. i don't know if there is a significant lack with the export business that have problem that we are getting clobbered in those that appreciates epa and let me ask a quick question to see where we stand to curb emissions from the fossil fuel caused changes in our atmosphere and oceans that portend harm? >> senator, i will not enter into that debate but what i would argue is that if we're going to control carbon emissions come it has to be done in a way that is feasible for the first proposal to the epa laid out was not feasible at all. >> i can hear you as simple as those emissions t

hedman, wasn't he an epa official? >> he's an epa scientist. >> yeah. he did a great job. a high schooler could read his memo, which he produced. there's a copy of his memo. june 24th. it tells you the violations of the city. it tells you the incompetence. then it tells you the poisoning of their children. it's documented. and all the steps and the violations of flint are listed here. not just this, but they have a history. they're listed on the back. a high schooler could read this and evaluate it. you got that memo, right, ms. hedman? >> i'm not sure when i got that memo. >> but you got it, right? okay. june. and, mayor, you were aware of this and you two talked, didn't you? did you talk to her about this memo? >> yes. >> mayor? you did talk to her. but, sir, i went back and checked to see if you talked to your constituents, the woman and families who were being poisoned. we knew this early in 2015. they knew it at the end of 2014. we have the test here that proved, that he went in and he tested the pipes. he did everything. first they said it was the pipes were lead int

epa responded the only way we could. by working within the cooperative federalism framework of the safe drinking water act. that framework assigned legal to states to implement drinking water regulations and gives epa the job of setting standards and providing technical assistance. so in keeping with that framework, we provided technical support to the state and the city to implement corrosion control and to provide the assistance that flint residents needed to limit their exposure to lead. most of the time this cooperative federalism water works well, even in a crisis. in fact, it worked exactly the way it's supposed to work when the toledo water crisis occurred in 2014. but as we all know, it did not work in flint. consequently, epa was forced to evaluate the enforcement tools available under the safe drinking water act. which are more limited than the enforcement provisions of other environmental statutes, and used the threat of enforcement to motivate the state and city to move forward. we found the enforcement optio

not the epa. governor snyder's administration chose to switch to the flint river for a source of water. not the epa. governor snyder's administration ignored warnings from the flint water treatment plant supervisor not to go forward with the switch, not the epa. governor snyder's administration falsely told the city of flint that corrosion control was unnecessary, not the epa. governor snyder's administration delayed corrosion control for months and harmed thousands of additional people in the process. not the epa. governor snyder's administration overruled the flint city council's vote to return to clean detroit water, not the epa. as i close, so yes, i agree, the epa should have snatched control out of governor snyder's hands even sooner than they did, but governor snyder's administration caused this horrific disaster, on the children of flint. on the governor's website his motto is, and i quote, "reinventing michigan, getting it right, getting it done," end of quote. it's hard to imagine a more

i call on epa's inspector general to investigate epa's response to the flint crisis. no we did not cause it, but could we have acted sooner can correct the situation? i issued an epa-wide memo, encouraging staff to raise concerns and for managers to be welcoming of staff questions. too much back and forth went between epa and the state when it should have gone up so that we could have raised the red flag earlier. i also recently sent letters to every governor and every state environmental health commissioner asking them to join epa in taking action to strengthen our city's drinking water programs to ensure that they are looking and working where their own communities. additionally, we are working on revisions to the lead and copper rule. that was revised under the prior administration to streamline the monitoring and reporting requirements. we know that it needs to be strengthened. while the contours of this situation are unique, the underlying circumstances of that allow it to happen are really not. as a country, we have a systemic problem of under investing in envir

none of the excuses she had represented epa from doing it -- prevented epa from doing it. they did not protect, they did not invent someone or something from suffering harm. rep. chaffetz: does the government -- gentleman yield? >> i do not yield. you stated the epa urgently told the state of michigan to act with a sense of urgency and inform the public, is that correct? gina mccarthy: it is correct. >> yet, as i understand it, you mean to say you repeatedly told the state of michigan to warn the public about toxic levels in the waters, is that correct? gina mccarthy: we repeatedly told them they had to begin corrosion -- >> a little while ago you said i wish we could've done something different, whether it be by the law were common sense. common sense would have told you, hey, stop taking the water. gina mccarthy: not at that point in time. >> at what point in time? gina mccarthy: you are referencing a report that if you look at the final, clearly shows it was a localized issue. >> so what she did, she sought legal opinion. that makes us all feel better. she sought legal

did the ohio epa resist the sampling protocol epa was recommending as mdeq did in the case of flint? >> no, not at all. they took on board all the sampleling advice and worked very closely with our cincinnati labs -- >> and in fact in your written testimony you commend governor kasich for his handling of that particular crisis. in fact, you note that he called on the national guard immediately. >> immediately governor kasich said he would call off the national guard to deliver bottled water and he did it. >> so i take it that you believe that there's a serious critical difference between the response of governor snyder and the response of governor kasich? >> yes. >> in our investigation in the michigan crisis, the committee received startling testimony from the former head of the michigan department of environmental quality. he told us that the topic of the flint water crisis never even made it to the agenda of governor snyder's cabinet meetings. never. not once. in your experience working with ohio, did governor kasich make toledo's drinking water a priority of his entire administra

to taked to get epa lead and water risks seriously. because we failed i was not surprised when flint occurred. i was expecting a flint to occur. if a landlord were to engage in similar practices due to their negligence to allow even a single child to be exposed to lead paint risk, the epa would argue for prosecution and incarceration. entire has allowed cities to be unnecessarily exposed. they have covered up evidence of their unethical actions by offering these falsified reports. forthey never apologize what they did and, incredibly to this day they have never apologize for what they did in flint, michigan. no apologies from epa. completely unrepentant and unable to learn from their mistakes. i guess being a government agency means you never have to say your sorry. yesterday i have to say i was dumbfounded to read an op-ed by gina mccarty that effectively absolved them of any wrongdoing or any role in creating the flint disaster. besides from creating this climate in which a flint was allowed to occur, i purposefully observed in witne

and epa, it was epa that warned you. it was epa that warned the state, and i find that unconscious able and i'm asking you to warn me if there's any problem in the state of new york. please. and i'm grateful we have professionals who can do this, who can act, and they did act. now, let me turn to another delay. the october 2, 2015, you rehens but did not declare a state of emergency until january 16th, 2016. and that was three months later and i find that unkconsciousabl and you did not call the national guard in until later. until january 12th. and governor snyder, on november 13th, 2015, the deputy state director of michigan state police sent an e-mail to one of your legal councils with the subject line, declaration questions. he wrote and i quote, as you know, the governor can declare at any time for any reason a state of emergency. that e-mail was sent on november, yet, you still waited two more months before you declared a the emergency. and how can you explain that to the people of flint who are now incredibly sick

did the epa do anything wrong? gina mccarthy: the epa worked very hard. rep. chaffetz: i have another question for you. hold on. did the -- mark edwards has testified here twice. he wants good quality health for people, and he wants good, clean water. and he happens to know the science behind the water. on those two hearings, did mr. edwards say anything that you think was wrong, or maybe inaccurate? you think mr. edwards is that anything that was wrong or inaccurate in any of those testimonies? gina mccarthy: i don't think he was at all informed about epa. he doesn't know how we are supposed to work in the system. he doesn't understand that the problem itself was a responsibility of the state. oversight was our responsibility. we took that seriously, and we contacted it. does that mean i don't have regrets, because i don't -- rep. chaffetz: that is cheap. we just got regrets. that is cheap. that is cheap. gina mccarthy: you have to look at the way the law works. rep. chaffetz: and it failed. you said, if there is any, anything i could do, you had that under t

epa responded the only way we could. by working within the cooperative federalism framework of the safe drinking water act. that framework assigned legal to states to implement drinking water regulations and gives epa the job of setting standards and providing technical assistance. so in keeping with that framework, we provided technical support to the state and the city to implement corrosion control and to provide the assistance that flint residents needed to limit their exposure to lead. most of the time this cooperative federalism water works well, even in a crisis.mw works well, even in a crisis.ow works well, even in a crisis.dw works well, even in a crisis.ewr works well, even in a crisis.mo works well, even in a crisis.mor works well, even in a crisis.te works well, even in a crisis.er works well, even in a crisis.r works well, even in a crisis. works well, even in a crisis. in fact, it worked exactly the way it's supposed to work when the toledo water crisis occurred in 2014. but as we all know, it did not work

and epa, it was epa that warned you. it was epa that warned the state. and i find that inconscionable. i'm asking you to warn me if there's any problem in the state of new york. please. and i'm grateful we have professionals who can do this, who can act and they did act. now, let me turn to another delay. the october 2nd, 2015, you unveiled your so-called comprehensive action plan. to address flint's water crisis. but you didn't declare a state of emergency until january 5th, 2016. isn't that right? when did you -- it was january 16th. and that was three months later and i find that unconscionable. and you -- you absolutely didn't call the national guard in until even later. until january 12th. and, governor snyder, on november 13th, 2015, the deputy state director of michigan state police sent an e-mail to one of your legal councils with the subject line, declaration questions. he wrote and i quote, as you know, the governor can declare at any time for any reason a state of emergency. that e-mail was sent on november. yet you still waited two more month

. >> their employer, the epa. the government agency in charge of protecting the environment and health of the american public. >>> here is senior investigative reporter vicky nguyen. >> thank you for joining us. epa workers based here in the bay area say it's ironic. they're reporting to an office building they don't think is safe. after two years of renovations, nearly 100 employees have complained about the indoor air quality. the workers claim their bosses aren't fixing the problem. now they're turning to us for help. construction continues outside the region 9 epa headquarters in san francisco. but workers say it's what you can't see growing inside the building that troubles them. >> it just seems crazy to us that someone would be risking their health by coming into the office to work on cleaning up the environment elsewhere. >> reporter: sally worked as a staff attorney for the epa and served as vice president as one of region 9's three unions. leaders from all unions sat down with the nbc bay area investigat

lost the epa versus michigan case. have a stay on the case where over 30 states have sued and in an unprecedented action, the u.s. supreme court put a stay on the clean power plant. so the epa is losing every single major rule that they are undertaking in the courts with obama administration officials, other officials who are federal judges saying the epa is overstepping its legal bounds and you may have seen what gina mccarthy said on tv on the eve of the "epa v. michigan" case when she asked if she thought they were going to win the case she said yes, they didn't. but then she said "even if woe don't with the case it was three years ago, most of the states, companies are there are in compliance, investments have been made. we'll catch up." so it's like hey, even if we lose we win because everybody had to abide by the law. i think that's outrageous and it's the source of frustration that so many americans feel and can you just elaborate on this "because we can" quote. i just find it the height of arrogance just for ev

did anyone at the epa do anything wrong? >> are you asking me the question if i could do this all over again -- >> you were in charge. did anyone at the epa do anything wrong? >> i don't think anyone at the epa did anything wrong, but i do believe we could have done more. >> wow. carterorgia republican said, "there is a special place in hell for actions like this." also testifying were the former emergency manager darnell early and the former mayor dayne walling. governor rick snyder will appear before the same committee. to see our special report, go to democracynow.org. police in detroit fired tear gas

accountability after governor rick snyder and epa officials contamination. governor snyder testified saying the epa ignored early information about the contaminated water, but the epa claimed synder and other state officials provided them with inaccurate information. michelle: the former ceo of harbor house in orlando is now taking the organization to court. carol wick was abruptly fired in february from the domestic abuse shelter. attorney mark nation says wick is suing for breach of contract and back wages which could total nearly $200,000. nation is representing wick at no cost. he says she did a lot for the community and feels like she is being bullied. world' s best golfers are back on the course for round two of the arnold palmer invitational. jason: jason day stole the show on day one, shooting six under par. tour, but he' s never won at bay hill. today is cut day, when the bottom half of the field will be eliminated, while the top half here' s the leader board headed into the 2nd round.

the epaon your program lied to the mayor, the epa lied to the governor, the epa lied and that they knew 1.5 years and all these people this morning, they all been lying because you have not stopped them and corrected them. that was on your program. host: steve, when you look at this cold flint water crisis -- this whole plant water crisis yourself, should people resign? what action should they take? and presentepa obama should resign first. what happens, the guy in charge on your program, he said every e-mail about the flint water, he said the water is safe coming out of, not the factory, but to the cleaning, and the problem is in the pipes in the houses, so it is not snyder, the mayor, it is the epa that lied and deceived. that is what his findings were. so far, all these people that have been coming up, blaming everybody else except for the .pa, obama has run the epa it is his fault, not governor snyder. host: that is steve in michigan. this is leslie in rochester hills, michigan. caller: hello. i am calling because i am not hearing anyone commenting about that years ago, when governo

the epa's inspector general is also looking into allegations of mismanagement in the epa region five office under the leadership of susan headman. a culture that carolyn bowlen knows well. she says she was reassigned after raising alarms over how the office handled sexual har s harassment cases. she says she's not surprised at how the epa scientist's preliminary report was suppressed. >> i thought, well, here we go again. you have someone who's a dedicated employee, very serious about his work, very effective employee who presented the information very well and it was disregarded. >> reporter: on its website the epa has a warning to the residents of flint. do not drink unfiltered water, it's not safe. looking back, what goes through your mind when you think about how all of this unfolded? >> i wish i would have protected my family better. >> reporter: it's not your fault. >> no, it's not, but they're my kids. and it's not just about my family. there are adults that have serious health issues now. there are teenagers that have serious health issues now. so no, it's not okay because th

the states sued the epa last year. collection of states, michigan versus epa, dealing with the mercury rule. we won. it took us three years to get to the supreme court and win that case. guess what happened from the time we filed the lawsuit and the time we won? epa, through the regulatory action, went to the states and forced all the departments of environmental quality at the state level to really start implementing the law. even though we won three years later, really the cost of it had already been passed on to consumers and utility companies across the country. so, we won but, really, we lost practically. the supreme court looked at this case and said we're not going to let that happen again. we're not going to let the states sue the epa on something we believe potentially is unlawful and the epa take steps to force that upon the states while they're litigating. we'll issue a stay, protect the status quo and make sure consumers are protected across this country. that's how important it is for the u.s. senate, the

the epa. but it's wasting millions of pages of paper and millions of tax dollars by printing and storing documents that nobody ever reads. channel 9's justin gray is live in washington, d.c., and justin, we're talking about a warehouse full of paper. >>reporter: we're talking about full of paper that nobody's ever booklets, manuals, ordered by the tens and hundreds of thousands. it adds up to millions of pages will ever read. and for year, much of it ended up boxed up and stored at this million items, nobody ever even looked at. >> the epa's attitude of print first and ask questions later, has cost taxpayers millions of dollars. >>reporter: the inspector general found the epa printing large numbers of documents and paying a million dollars a year to keep them. the epa staff believes it is cheaper to print in bulk and then store the material. the epa has made some major changes to address this problem. they're in-house printing facility at the water headquarters printed on demand, meaning there

but what about the epa? you can't simultaneously say they're the best epa administrator we've ever had since the dinosaurs. that doesn't -- that doesn't ring true. >> congressman jason chaffetz, thanks for taking time. >>> senator patrick leahy on his meeting with the president's supreme court nominee and the long fight that's ahead. and during this event, you can get a great deal on this jetta. it drives great... volkswagen believes safety is very important so all eleven models come standard with an intelligent crash response system... hmm..... .....and seven stability-enhancing systems... hmm... ...for more confidence... on road trips. hmmfff... hmm... for those who take safety seriously. like we do. the volkswagen safety in numbers event... hurry in and get a $1,000 volkswagen reward card when you purchase or lease select new 2015 or 2016 volkswagen models. feel like this. look like this. feel like this. with dreamwalk insoles, turn shoes that can be a pain into comfortable ones. their soft cushioning sup

epa workers based in the bay area says it's ironic. they're reporting to an office building they don't think is safe. after two years of renovations nearly 100 employees have complained about the indoor air quality. the workers claim their bosses aren't fixing the problem. now, they're turning to us for help. construction continues outside the region nine epa headquarters in san francisco. but workers say it's what withdrew can't see flowing inside the building that troubles them. >> it just seems crazy to us that someone would be risking their health by coming into the office to work on cleaning up the environment elsewhere. >> she works as a staff attorney for the epa and serves as vice president for one of region nine's three unions. leaders sat down with the investigative unit to voice their concerns about the indoor air quality for workers here. >> some are reporting they come co-work and within an hour they're not able to actually work and function. >> reporter: what's causing the bad air? air quality studies conducted by a consu

and they did not downplaying any concerns raised by epa scientists. she set down as director of epa midwest regional office in february as the lead crisis group. she said federal law prevented >> did anyone at the epa do anything wrong? >> i don't think anyone at epa did anything wrong. i do believe we could have done more. trucks are using water from the flint river in 2014 as a cost- cutting measure. the river water was not properly treated allowing led to preach from heights. leaving many children to test positive for elevated lead levels. >> this is a water treatment issue. this is not a leadership issue. >> reporter: the former state of affairs manager testified before the house committee. >> he pointed fingers at the epa and michigan department of environmental public -- quality responsible for treating the water. >> as we all know we were grossly misled by the experts. >> reporter: he was one of several emergency managers governor rick snyder appointed for flint. letter will testify before congress later this week. >>> across america three offi

epa did decline an on camera interview but they did tell us in a statement the ability of the epa to oversee was impacted by failures and resistance at the state and local levels. >> it is finger pointing back and forth. >> everywhere. because the state has also said that the feds didn't do their job. and the federal government the epa the cdc staying the state hindered them and the city there in the middle wonder when they are going to get help. >> how much access do the people in flint have to the people to ask those questions directly? >> at points they do but not what they want. they don't have the answers they want. they have the bottled water. they can go pick it up. at times it is hard. it is not really being delivered to their houses. thif to go get it. so the resources are starting to come in some ways. people are paying attention but when you talk to people they are angry ry because they don't have the answers and they want them. >> and there are people who live outside the community who are also angry this could happen. not just to any city in the world but a city here in

they lied to the epa. he did not believe them because we were turning in more and more test results that showed high lead. in june, he released a report problems,re are they're not doing their job the state level. amy: what did hedman do? >> said it was full of errors and they did not back him. and then we were not allowed to speak to him for weeks. amy: and then she was forced to resign. nayyirah shariff, as you see these two hearings this week, what are you going back to? what are you demanding now? >> flint needs a full on humanitarian effort because humanitarian effort because snyder has said annenberg media ♪ captioning sponsored by annenberg/cpb narrator: north america is sometimes called "anglo-america" due to the dominance of english language and culture. but in the subregion of canada, two cities-- montreal and vancouver-- are distinctive for their non-english societies. in vancouver, on canada's pacific coast, asian immigration stirs a cultural conflict that highlights the relationship between

the epa discovered this and on april 24th, 2015, epa official miguel del toral sent a letter expressing concern. he wrote, "as far as treatment scenarios, to have optimized control without treatment and flint does not appear to meet either." is that correct? >> that's correct. >> here's where i get really concerned. even though the epa told snyder administration to implement corrosion control, they didn't do it. finally, august 17th, 2015, the michigan department of environmental quality told flint, "the city must now recommend a treatment to fully optimize corrosion control treatment within six months." so the state's response didn't happen until august. that was four months after the epa warned the administration that they had to do something. is that right? >> that's correct. >> also to me, six months seem as ridiculously long time when lead has been leaching throughout the pipes and people throughout flint were being poisoned. do you a i agree? >> yes, doi. >> as it turns out, in december, the governor's own task force, as we've heard, concluded that the actions of governor snyder's

the fact is, epa in writing warned them, did the epa do enough? not in my book. but they warned them in writing. they told them to put anti-corrosive treatment into those pipes. they ignored it. and i'm not pointing the finger at any one person, but somebody there is going to be blamed for this at the end of the day, when the suits are finally, come to the courts. but to me it's a moral crime. it's a moral crime. so to just say the state should do it all, there shouldn't be minimum standards, you know, we shouldn't really triple check these water systems. i just don't buy it, and i think that what our laws do i think are very happy compromise between the right of the people who vote for president, who vote for senators, who vote for house members, to know they'll have a basic standard, so that they can be protected and their children can be protected, and then say to the states, look, you're the laboratory. if you can do more, fine. but protect them to at least a minimum level, and that's been the way i have viewed this job. that's why when we preempt states on t

they lied to the epa. he did not believe them because we were turning in more and more test results that showed high lead. in june, he released a report problems,re are they're not doing their job the state level. amy: what did hedman do? >> said it was full of errors and they did not back him. and then we were not allowed to speak to him for weeks. amy: and then she was forced to resign. nayyirah shariff, as you see these two hearings this week, what are you going back to? what are you demanding now? >> flint needs a full on humanitarian effort because snyder has said all levels of government have failed flint. really, there was only one level, that is because of the emergency manager law. we do not have access to local democracy. we did not have agencies. this is a public health disaster. we canhe state sites, only get one case of water per day. that is not enough to meet -- amy: we have five seconds. right now, your most important demand. >> we need a public health declaration by president obama. amy: w

the star witnesses, michigan governor, rick snyder and the head of the epa. both had calls for them to resign. lisa stark has more from washington with more on their testimony >> reporter: tony, with angry lawmakers on the house oversight and government reform committee who want to know why the state and government officials did not act more aggressively as the water problems in flint mounted, it was a year and a half since the residents began complaining and the officials sounded the alarm. during that time, there was a steady drip of evidence that all was not right. >> the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. >> reporter: rick snyder and gina mccarthy both under fire for the water crisis in flint, trying to deflect blame for the water contamination and the government's slow response. >> let me be blunt, there was a failure of government at all levels. local, state and government officials all failed the families of flint. >> while the epa did not cause the problem, we should not have been so trusting o

she said the epa had nothing to do with it, and regarding her ez resignation which came quickly after the whole scandal broke, she said -- unlike press reports, which she has been unable to correct, because the epa has been unable to do anything about, she says she didn't sit on the sidelines while this crisis was going on. later we're going to hear from a former mayor, and also is processor of water engineering. >> it looks like mr. walling just started to speak there in the hearing. talk a little bit about the politics behind this, john. >> reporter: the politics in this town, as you know is inevitable. you can't get away from it. even though this is a personal crisis for a hundred thousand people up in flint, the politics still dominates. and the republicans are trying to blame the epa, and here is a clip that illustrates that from the house oversight committee, and he is talking about a memo which he showed to the committee room. take a listen. >> why isn't flint the community they go to? of all of the communities out there, the one that is having the toughest time is the one that

while epa administrator gina mccarthy says no one has been fired or dismissed at the epa over the water crisis. jacqueline fell, channel 9 eyewitness news. >>> state agents raided the homes of a former nc state football player. the agents left eric leek's homes with computer hard drives yesterday. they wouldn't say what they were looking for. but the state has been cracking down on agents who illegally contact student athletes. leek founded a company that represents athletes. >>> today supreme court nominee merrick garland. republicans are refusing to garland will meet with harry reid and senator patrick lee after the senate's recess he'll meet with republican senator, chuck. >>> students could soon be allowed to go off campus to learn about religion, the superintendent suggested the policy that would allow religion organizations to apply for the program. our partners report students would have to get parent's permission to participate during an elective class. >>> today is like my perfect kind of day. >> it's beautiful. not to warm. not too cold. just right. temperatures in the 70s in

the epa also under fire for not acting quickly enough or doing enough when the epa learned of high levels of lead in flint's water. neither one got much sympathy from the committee. >> you need to resign. >> yes! >> common sense told you, stop drinking the water. >> not at that point in time. >> at what point in time? >> not only am i asking you to be fired. if you are not going to resign, you should be impeached. >> reporter: often bickering over who is more to blame. >> why didn't administrator mccarthy get on the phone and call me? this is the culture that got us in the mess. where is common sense? >> i will take responsibility for not pushing hard enough, but i will not take responsibility for causing this problem. it was not epa at the helm when this happened. >> reporter: as the questions continued in the hearing room, residents of flint protested outside in the hallways once again calling for rick snyder's resignation and criminal charges. snyder doesn't want to step down. he wants to fix the problem. gina mccarthy has not admitted to wrongdoing here. so many unanswered questions.

and it's sad because as the leader of the epa, the good people that work for the epa, the people in region five that are on the ground in flint really trying to do good and make a difference are the ones who are going to suffer with blowback today from what she said. and the way she presented the epa today. >> we heard from the democratic candidates when they were in flipt. both think governor snyder should resign. do you think he should? >> honestly, i believe at this point we should use his guilt to get what we need in regards to our infrastructure. why not use it to get the people what they need. >> if somebody came in in his place, he may not feel that same sense of personal failure? >> well, not so much that. just that with him already being so neck deep into this, he's got the guilt of what's happened. and i really feel it would hinder us timewise to have him resign or to have him be recall in getting things done. it would make things go slower than they're already going and they're going slow enough. >> how is your family doing? >> my family is dealing with some serious health issue

hose high levels prodded epa water export to ask what can of corrosion control the city was using. flint must have optimal treatment. is a phosphate? the responded to the epa by saying it had an optimized corrosive control program in place but offered no specific details. by march, residents were increasingly calling for return to the detroit system will stop pastor harris helped lead the effort. >> our goal is to return flint to the purest water source, that is the detroit source, in the interim. we want an injunction for that. we're not worried about long-range right now. that still has to come to fruition, but immediately, we want to go back to detroit. i have not talked anyone in the state, city, anywhere that does not agree that the purest water source for the people of flint is the detroit source. >> everyone is asking, can we hook up? we don't have a money tree. you guys will be sorry. you wouldhe sorryrew hook up on that that is the answer to that question. , onto emergency manager the treasurer's office and onto lansing, the governor's mansion, have shown a total disregard

the epa's inspector general is also looking into allegations of mismanagement in the epa region five office under the leadership of susan hedman. a culture that carolyn bolen knows well. she says she was reassigned after raising alarms over how the office handled sexual harassment cases. she says she's not surprised at how the epa scientist's preliminary report was suppressed. >> i thought, well, here we go again. we have someone who's a dedicated employee, very serious about his work, very effective employee who presented the information very well, and it was disregarded. >> reporter: on its website, the epa now has a warning to the residents of flint. do not drink unfiltered water. it's not safe. looking back, what goes through your mind when you think about how all of this unfolded? >> i wish i would have protected my family better. >> reporter: it's not your fault. >> no, it's not, but they're my kids. it's not just about my family. there are adults that have serious health issues now. there are teenagers that have serious health issues now. so, no, it's -- it's not okay. because

hose high levels prodded epa water export to ask what can of corrosion control the city was using. flint must have optimal treatment. is a phosphate? the responded to the epa by saying it had an optimized corrosive control program in place but offered no specific details. by march, residents were increasingly calling for return to the detroit system will stop pastor harris helped lead the effort. >> our goal is to return flint to the purest water source, that is the detroit source, in the interim. we want an injunction for that. we're not worried about long-range right now. that still has to come to fruition, but immediately, we want to go back to detroit. i have not talked anyone in the state, city, anywhere that does not agree that the purest water source for the people of flint is the detroit source. >> everyone is asking, can we hook up? we don't have a money tree. you guys will be sorry. you would the sorry crew hooked up on that. that is the answer to that question. , onto emergency manager the treasurer's office and onto lansing, the governor's mansion, have shown a total di

and it's sad because as the leader of the epa, the good people that work for the epa, the people in region five that are on the ground in flint really trying to do good and make a difference are the ones who are going to suffer with blowback today from what she said. and the way she presented the epa today. >> we heard from the democratic candidates when they were in flint. both think governor snyder should resign. do you think he should? >> honestly, i believe at this point we should use his guilt to get what we need in regards to our infrastructure. why not use it to get the people what they need. >> if somebody came in in his place, he may not feel that same sense of personal failure? >> well, not so much that. just that with him already being so neck deep into this, he's got the guilt of what's happened. and i really feel it would hinder us timewise to have him resign or to have him be recall in getting things done. it would make things go slower than they're already going and they're going slow enough. >> how is your family doing? >> my family is dealing with some serious health issue

epa new in april. in june, you notify them. you are given a report that said lots of lead in the drinking water. get notice until december. there is no excuse for that. it should have been done in july, at least? or august? maybe september. at least by october. that was so wrong. this was a crime of epic proportions that could have been prevented. in: susan hedman resigned january as head of the epa regional office. a utah congressman jason chaffetz asked her whether anyone had done anything wrong at the agency. >> did anyone at the epa do anything wrong? >> are you asking me the question if i could do this all over again -- >> you were in charge. did anyone at the epa do anything wrong? >> i don't think anyone at the epa did anything wrong, but i do believe we could have done more. >> wow. carterorgia republican said, "there is a special place in hell for actions like this." also testifying were the former emergency manager darnell early and the former mayor dayne walling. governor rick snyder will ap

the epa has expanded too much. it's focused on too many extraneous issues and should be focused on these core issues. that's how they defend the argument that they have been critical of the epa overreach, but they would say this is a core function they should be focused on. host: a michigan caller, sally is in saint joe county in michigan. welcome. shepherdson,, mr. i have heard that lansing corrected its pipes, lansing, michigan, corrected its pipes with a new flexible pipe that they ran through house to house. sure that our governor must have been aware of that. it was inexpensive of the time, and it was never brought up the hearings. i was appalled at that hearing. based onso obviously political parties. host: i'm really go there, we're going to an actual flint caller here from debbie in flint, michigan. good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning, thanks for taking my call. what it wanted to point out was in august of 2015, i can remember the judge's name, but he raised on stove -- a bunch of money. that theyh