Is this why Obama thinks filterred water is now fine to drink in Flint and why
he came here with his EPA head who is being sued for their part in this fiasco?
BTW Jan Burgess is legally blind...
Joe
Flint water crisis lawsuit claims EPA dragged its feet on complaints
Gary Ridley | gridley@xxxxxxxxx
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Gary Ridley | gridley@xxxxxxxxx
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on April 26, 2016 at 4:15 PM, updated April 27, 2016 at 8:51 AM
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FLINT, MI – It took federal environmental regulators up to 18 months to
investigate citizen complaints about poor water quality in Flint, according to a
new lawsuit.
An administrative complaint filed Monday, April 25, against the Environmental
Protection Agency seeks more than $220 million in damages after federal
regulators
allegedly dragged their feet in response to the Flint water crisis.
Royal Oak-based attorney Michael Pitt, who filed the claim on behalf of 514
city residents, claimed the EPA received roughly 120 complaints related to the
city's poor water quality did little to nothing to investigate the allegations.
EPA officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The complaint's lead plaintiff, former Flint resident Jan Burgess, alleged she
first contacted the EPA on Oct. 14, 2014, to request and investigation into
the city's water.
"Since this change, our drinking water has tripled in cost and the quality
varies daily," Burgess complained.
Nine days later, EPA representative Jennifer Crooks responded by telling
Burgess that officials were aware of the complaints and that it was only a
temporary
problem.
It wasn't until April 9, 2016, that an EPA investigator finally met with
Burgess and Pitt to ask about her complaint.
"The investigators were really candid about how the EPA dropped the ball," said
Pitt.
EPA head says state was 'dismissive, misleading and unresponsive' in water
crisis
Pitt said the administrative complaint is the first step plaintiff have to take
when attempting to sue federal government agencies.
The Federal Tort Claims Act allows citizens to sue federal agencies for things
such as negligence, but they must file the administrative complaint first
and allow the agency to rectify the problem. If the agency refuses to rectify
the situation the case can move to the federal courts, Pitt said.
Pitt claims the federal regulators were aware of the problems with Flint water
but did nothing to step in.
"The message is the EPA was in a position to prevent a lot of harm that
actually occurred," Pitt said.
EPA head should resign over Flint water crisis, Republicans say
The city is in the national spotlight after elevated blood lead levels were
discovered in some Flint children. The city changed its water source from Lake
Huron water purchased from the Detroit water system to the Flint River in April
2014, a decision made while the city was being run by a state-appointed
emergency manager pending the city's joining the Karegnondi Water Authority.
State regulators never required that the river water be treated to make it less
corrosive, causing lead from plumbing and pipes to leach into the water
supply.
Source:
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/04/epa_failed_to_investigate_flin.html
