Inquiry: State 'fundamentally accountable' for Flint crisis

"This was a failure at all levels of government and particularly at the DEQ", Adler said.

"The hearing was something that needed to be done, and I'm glad it happened", Political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore Ron Owens III said.

Shortly after Flint switched to using water from the Flint River in April 2014, residents began to complain of a decline in the city's water quality, noting the new water was visibly cloudy, brown, and tasted and smelled bad. The long-term exposure of Flint residents to lead, which even in small amounts can cause grave health problems, has raised the public's awareness of this health crisis and prompted the call for immediate and enduring action - now and for years to come.

It found that Flint Public Workers personnel failed to comply with the lead and copper rule, specifically by not using corrosion control treatment that should have prevented lead from leaching into the water, although it also notes that they were acting on "inaccurate and improper guidance" from the MDEQ.

It's a scathing document that concludes the drinking water disaster plaguing the MI city and poisoning its residents was an instance of "government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice".

"Many of the recommendations made in this report are already being implemented, both within my own office and in various state departments", the governor said in a statement.

"The DEQ changed under Gov. Snyder", Ananich told reporters after the second meeting of the Joint Select Committee on the Flint Water Public Health Emergency.

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Hedman denied the EPA had disciplined Del Toral, who had warned of dangerously high levels of lead in a June 2015 memo and later criticized the agency for not taking swift action. "The city switched back to its original source late a year ago, but the water remains unsafe".

Owens, a member of MSU College Democrats, said he felt Snyder, as well as the EPA administrator, did not do enough to address the tough questions posed to them as well as how to further aid the citizens of Flint.

The state has since ordered a public health emergency, multiple state and federal agencies were charged with investigating the crisis, and a number of officials have been called to testify in front of Congress. Officials say the water in Flint is still not safe to drink and have been handing out water filters and bottled water.

Governor Rick Snyder said during Wednesday's news conference he believes the emergency manager law has value.

"Accountability is important to ensuring that a similar crisis never happens again".

Ari Adler, a Snyder spokesman, said in response that "accusations for political gain do nothing to help the people of Flint, so debating over them is not something we will do".

Primary responsibility was unsurprisingly directed toward the state Department of Environmental Quality, whose director resigned in December after the panel's initial report. The report said preliminary figures suggest Michigan's office has one of the lowest budgets in the region, "while having one of the largest, if not the largest, number of community water systems to regulate".