Rep. Gosar: "EPA Negligent in Response to Flint Water Crisis"

Statement

Today, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) released the following statement after participating in a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing titled, "Examining Federal Administration of the Safe Drinking Water Act in Flint, Michigan" where the Congressman questioned Acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Assistant Administrator Joel Beauvais:

"Today, the EPA admitted to first discovering contaminations in Flint's water system in the Spring of 2015. Shamefully, the EPA dismissed an internal memo from one of its own and failed to take any real action till January 2016. During that time, EPA Administrator Susan Hedman tried to dismiss the seriousness of this crisis stating that the memo was just a draft and that it should have never been released as the memo had not received final approval from the EPA hierarchy. Innocent children and families in Flint were exposed to unsafe levels of lead and copper in their water while the EPA was twiddling their thumbs and downplaying the severity of this contamination.

"If the EPA was serious about making the Flint water crisis a priority, as it claims, why did EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy just visit Flint for the first time yesterday, the day before a Congressional oversight hearing? I find it despicable that McCarthy waited seven months after an EPA regulations manager first reported a very serious contamination to take this matter seriously. Her failure yesterday to take responsibility for the EPA's negligence is absolutely shameful. Why has no one been fired or held accountable at the EPA for this incident? McCarthy's actions continue a sickening trend by the EPA of hiding government incompetence and ducking accountability. Disgustingly, the EPA risked the health and safety of our citizens because they failed to take any real action for nearly seven months.

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