Partisan Finger-pointing and Calls for Resignations in Congressional Hearings on Flint

Both the governor of MI and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency were called on to resign by lawmakers during a contentious congressional oversight hearing Thursday on lead contamination in the city of Flint's water supply. "You were not in a medically induced coma for a year".

That warning came a year before Snyder said he became aware of the contamination on October 1, 2015, at which time he ordered the city of Flint be reconnected to Detroit's water supply.

"There is no doubt in my mind that if a corporate CEO did what Governor Snyder's administration has done, he would be hauled up on criminal charges", Cummings said.

River water caused corrosion in the pipes, but the Michigan Department of Environmental Equality insisted that the water was safe to consume, despite complaints of foul odor, unusual color and outbreaks of rashes.

"Local, state and federal officials, we all failed the families of Flint", Snyder told lawmakers.

Newswatch 16 spoke with the congressman over the phone Thursday and he admits he felt he lost his composure when Governor Snyder avoided answering his questions. "Snyder said. "...I have accepted responsibility because those people work for me, but it's something different to have this continuing dialogue to say this was exclusively us." he said.

Appearing in front of the House Oversight Committee, Snyder did his best to take enough responsibility for the crisis in Flint, while also pointing his finger in other directions.

12 News reported that Gov. Snyder called the US EPA, which provides monitoring and control of lead levels in drinking water, "dumb and dangerous".

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In defending the agreement, Mrs Clinton said enforcing it is part of a broader strategy to confront Iran's behavior. Kasich also criticised Trump without mentioning his name, saying "we can not be "neutral" in defending our allies".

An emergency wasn't declared by the EPA until this January. "Yes." But she said EPA employees, from Hedman on down, worked "very hard" with state environmental officials to solve the crisis starting last summer and throughout the fall. "I wish we had gone further, I wish we had gone farther, I wish we had yelled from the treetops", McCarthy said. He said McCarthy should resign. "I've had enough of your phony apologies", Rep. Matt Cartwright said. "Even when you did know, you did nothing".

"It looks like nearly everyone knew about this problem but you".

"Not at that time", McCarthy replied.

Flint's problems began when the city switched its water source from Detroit's system to the Flint River in 2014 as a cost-cutting measure.

Snyder took issue with the committee's framing of some events.

Siddhartha Roy blames the lead debacle on the state-appointed emergency manager who was forced on the city of Flint after the Great Recession for the goal of balancing the city's budget - and cut corners doing it.

"Either [your chief of staff] told you and you did nothing, or he did tell you and you're an absentee governor", Cummings said.