Norton Releases Letter Showing No Lead in D.C.'s Water After Hearing on Flint Water Crisis

Statement

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today at the second Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR) hearing examining the Flint lead-in-water crisis said that local, state, and federal officials failed to act on early warning signs, not unlike what happened with the District of Columbia's lead-in-water crisis during the early 2000s.

"I wanted no part in the finger pointing between state and federal officials about who bears the most responsibility for this shameful crisis," Norton said. "During the hearing, I pointed to a recently-passed House bill that would for the first time require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to notify residents when water samples show lead levels for the highest 10% of homes tested are above 15 parts per billion, if local agencies do not notify residents. That bill was necessary because in our separation of powers government, federal officials are virtually required to refrain from addressing a matter controlled by the state, even when there is federal jurisdiction. It is clear here that water quality control was entirely in the hands of state and local officials in Michigan. However, in the case of lead contamination, the federal government should have done much more as local officials failed to intervene."

Source