Exclusive: Gov. Rick Snyder’s Men Originally Rejected Using Flint’s Toxic River
An emergency manager said no to using the river in 2012 after speaking to
environmental regulators. An ex-Flint official said the governor’s office
reversed
that decision.
DETROIT — The emergency manager for Flint, Michigan, appointed by Gov. Rick
Snyder in 2012, rejected using the city’s river as drinking water after
consulting
with the state’s environmental protection agency.
Snyder appointed Ed Kurtz to be Flint’s second emergency manager and Kurtz
selected Jerry Ambrose to be the city’s chief financial officer. Both men were
tasked by the Republican governor’s administration with restructuring the
city’s government to save money after it was in danger of becoming insolvent.
One cost-saving measure considered was to quit buying municipal water from
Detroit.
In a civil deposition not reported until now, Ambrose testified under oath that
emergency manager Kurtz considered a proposal to use the Flint River, discussed
the option with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and then
rejected it.
In 2014, Ambrose was deposed in a civil lawsuit brought by retired Flint
municipal workers against the state over severe cuts to their health care
benefits.
Attorney Alec Gibbs questioned Ambrose about the water decision (a year before
Flint learned it was being poisoned).
“There was brief evaluation of whether the city would be better off to simply
use the Flint River as its primary source of water over the long term,” Ambrose
said. “That was determined not to be feasible.”
“Who determined it wasn’t feasible?” Gibbs asked.
“It was a collective decision of the emergency management team based on
conversations with the MDEQ that indicated they would not be supportive of the
use
of the Flint River on a long-term basis as a primary source of water,” Ambrose
answered.
“What was the reason they gave?” Gibbs asked.
“You’ll have to ask them,” Ambrose said.
How could the river that was rejected as Flint’s permanent water source in
December 2012 suddenly become suitable for consumption a mere 16 months later?
And who actually made the disastrous choice to start using the previously
rejected river as the city’s temporary water source?
Howard Croft, the former director of public works for Flint who resigned in
November 2015, asserted more than four months ago in a videotaped interview
with the ACLU of Michigan that the decision to use the dangerously corrosive
river came directly from the Snyder administration.
In the interview, Croft said that the decision to use the river was a financial
one, with a review that “went up through the state.”
“All the way to the governor’s office?” the ACLU of Michigan asked him.
“All the way to the governor’s office,” Croft replied.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast
When questioned about Croft’s accusation in October, Sara Wurfel, Snyder’s
spokeswoman at the time, offered up the
false claim
that the governor could not have made the decision to use the river because the
city had been kicked off of Detroit’s system.
Source:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/exclusive-gov-rick-snyder-s-men-originally-rejected-using-flint-s-toxic-river.html
Source:
Exclusive: Gov. Rick Snyder’s Men Originally Rejected Using Flint’s Toxic River
An emergency manager said no to using the river in 2012 after speaking to
environmental regulators. An ex-Flint official said the governor’s office
reversed
that decision.
DETROIT — The emergency manager for Flint, Michigan, appointed by Gov. Rick
Snyder in 2012, rejected using the city’s river as drinking water after
consulting
with the state’s environmental protection agency.
Snyder appointed Ed Kurtz to be Flint’s second emergency manager and Kurtz
selected Jerry Ambrose to be the city’s chief financial officer. Both men were
tasked by the Republican governor’s administration with restructuring the
city’s government to save money after it was in danger of becoming insolvent.
One cost-saving measure considered was to quit buying municipal water from
Detroit.
In a civil deposition not reported until now, Ambrose testified under oath that
emergency manager Kurtz considered a proposal to use the Flint River, discussed
the option with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and then
rejected it.
In 2014, Ambrose was deposed in a civil lawsuit brought by retired Flint
municipal workers against the state over severe cuts to their health care
benefits.
Attorney Alec Gibbs questioned Ambrose about the water decision (a year before
Flint learned it was being poisoned).
“There was brief evaluation of whether the city would be better off to simply
use the Flint River as its primary source of water over the long term,” Ambrose
said. “That was determined not to be feasible.”
“Who determined it wasn’t feasible?” Gibbs asked.
“It was a collective decision of the emergency management team based on
conversations with the MDEQ that indicated they would not be supportive of the
use
of the Flint River on a long-term basis as a primary source of water,” Ambrose
answered.
“What was the reason they gave?” Gibbs asked.
“You’ll have to ask them,” Ambrose said.
How could the river that was rejected as Flint’s permanent water source in
December 2012 suddenly become suitable for consumption a mere 16 months later?
And who actually made the disastrous choice to start using the previously
rejected river as the city’s temporary water source?
Howard Croft, the former director of public works for Flint who resigned in
November 2015, asserted more than four months ago in a videotaped interview
with the ACLU of Michigan that the decision to use the dangerously corrosive
river came directly from the Snyder administration.
In the interview, Croft said that the decision to use the river was a financial
one, with a review that “went up through the state.”
“All the way to the governor’s office?” the ACLU of Michigan asked him.
“All the way to the governor’s office,” Croft replied.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast
When questioned about Croft’s accusation in October, Sara Wurfel, Snyder’s
spokeswoman at the time, offered up the
false claim
that the governor could not have made the decision to use the river because the
city had been kicked off of Detroit’s system.
Source:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/24/exclusive-gov-rick-snyder-s-men-originally-rejected-using-flint-s-toxic-river.html
