D4 / SUNDAY, MAY 8, 2016 / THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS
The mistakes made CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3
Instead, Brader’s email led to a phone conversation between her, Rich Baird, Snyder’s closest aide, and Darnell Earley, Flint’s emergency manager at the time. “Darnell says it’s too costly (to go back to Detroit water) and that’s the end of discussion,” Sikkema said. It was a conversation that played out again and again in the governor’s office during the winter and spring of 2015 as the level of water complaints rose. It was brown. It smelled and tasted odd. It was causing rashes. Still, the DEQ said it was safe to drink. Even when the water exceeded federal standards for total trihalomethanes or TTHM, a carcinogen, the DEQ told the public — and the governor — it was safe to drink. Meanwhile, Flint was on “the precipice of civil unrest,” state Rep. Sheldon Neeley said in an open letter to Snyder. The unrest didn’t go unnoticed by Snyder’s top aides. “This is a public relations crisis — because of real or perceived problem is irrelevant — waiting to explode nationally,” Adler, then Snyder’s special projects manager, wrote in a January 2015 email to two of his colleagues in the governor’s office. “Since we’re in charge, we can hardly ignore the people of Flint,” Muchmore, Snyder’s chief of staff, wrote in a February 2015 email to the Department of Treasury. Because of the TTHM issue, there was a new sense of urgency in the governor’s office about Flint’s water issues during the winter and into spring 2015. Emails were exchanged. Meetings were held. The governor received written, detailed briefings in February and April about the situation in Flint. “Unfortunately, if we had known there was a lead issue, we would have been able to respond to it,” said Dick Posthumus, senior adviser to Snyder who hosted a meeting about Flint water involving several agencies in January 2015. Flint did take steps to improve its water in winter 2015, the biggest of which was the addition of a $1.5 million filter at the water plant, a move recommended by Veolia, an international consulting firm on environment issues hired by the city to look at the TTHM problem. Amid the concerns over Flint’s water quality, there were suspicions in the governor’s office the water complaints were fueled by politics, including anger over the state takeover of Flint and by political opponents of the Flint mayor, who was seeking reelection. The Snyder administration also repeatedly reminded itself the Flint River was only a temporary water source. “Once the city connects to the new KWA system in 2016, this issue will fade in the rearview,” DEQ spokesman Brad Wurfel wrote in the February 2015 briefing memo. Even more important, Treasury officials repeatedly reminded everyone of the high cost of buying water from Detroit, as the DEQ continued its assurances the water met federal and state safety standards. When the Flint City Council voted in March 2015 to return to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department for drinking water, the idea was vetoed by emergency manager Jerry Ambrose, who called it “incomprehensible,” considering the cost. “Water from Detroit is no safer than water from Flint,” Ambrose said. The water-quality problems
Gov. Rick Snyder takes his seat before a hearing on the Flint water crisis March 17, 2016, in front of the U.S. House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform in Washington, D.C. (Jake May | MLive.com)
“I assumed others would inform the Governor but looking back now it is clear that was not the case.” HARVEY HOLLINS IN AN EMAIL RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS FROM MLIVE
outside of lead “were local issues” and “not health-related directly,” Snyder told an MLive reporter during a short interview he granted Thursday about his trade mission to Europe. Snyder also said the state directed $2 million in federal grant money to Flint in February for infrastructure improvements, though that was for long-term projects, and solicited businesses to donate water filters for Flint residents, which were distributed in August. Ananich called Snyder’s comments “delusional,” saying concerns about the boil-water advisories, TTHM, GM’s decision to switch water supplies and complaints about the water’s color, smell and taste “were all health related.” Ananich also dismissed the contention those were “local issues,” noting the city was governed by a state-appointed emergency manager. “If they had investigated earlier and taken the concerns more seriously, this could have been solved earlier,” Ananich said. LEGIONNAIRE’S DISEASE
The two issues that have caused the most concern — lead and the possibility the water was
More than 150 people protest Jan. 8, 2016, outside Flint City Hall over Gov. Rick Snyder’s handling of the water crisis. Meanwhile, about 9,000 gallons of bottled water for Flint residents arrives on trucks from Detroit. (Jake May | MLive.com)
responsible for Legionnaire’s cases — were being discussed at various levels of government long before Snyder went public about them. Both were being talked about in connection with Flint water at least by winter and spring 2015. The Legionnaire’s issue arose in fall 2014 when the Genesee County Health Department noticed a rash of cases that coincided with the switch to Flint River water. It’s still unclear whether the Flint River water was responsible for the 91 confirmed Legionnaires’ cases. Dr. Matthew Davis, a member of the Flint water task force, said it is likely that will never be known. The outbreak and its possible link to the Flint River became public on Jan. 13, 2016, a few days after Snyder said he was first informed about the issue. However, officials in the DEQ and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services were alerted in fall 2014 about the outbreak and the potential link to the change in Flint water. DEQ Director Dan Wyant and Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon knew by January 2015, according to the Flint water task force.
Despite reassurances from the Services alerts the DEQ about a DEQ that the water is safe, the potential connection between Flint state office building in Flint starts water and a deadly outbreak of using bottled water. Legionnaires’ disease. High lead levels are detected in November-December 2014: two water fountains at University Snyder is re-elected and Detroit of Michigan-Flint. exits bankruptcy. Water complaints Emergency manager Jerry continue to mount in Flint. Ambrose Ambrose turns down an offer from January 2015: Flint notifies water Detroit to reconnect Flint to the customers it is in violation of the Safe Water Drinking Act due to elevated lev- water system. Emails show that, by the end of the month, Snyder press secretary Dave els of total trihalomethanes (TTHM), Murray is aware of the potential prompting more discussion and meetings Legionnaire’s link to Flint water. among high-ranking Snyder officials.
On Jan. 28, 2015, DEQ spokesman Wurfel had an email exchange with Snyder’s thenassistant press secretary, Dave Murray, about Flint water. Wurfel said he didn’t want Wyant “to say publicly that the water in Flint is safe until we get the results of some county health epidemiological traceback work on 42 cases of Legionnaire’s disease in Genesee County since last May.” Three days later, Murray sent a detailed memo about the Flint water situation to Snyder in advance of a grant announcement to improve Flint’s water system. The memo did not mention Legionnaire’s. Murray could not be reached for comment. Other emails show Snyder’s then-press secretary Sara Wurfel and Harvey Hollins, the director of urban initiatives, also knew about the outbreak by spring 2015. Jarrod Agen, then Snyder’s communications director, also was copied on an email about Legionnaires, but said he never opened it. Hollins gave Snyder a detailed briefing report on Flint water issues in April 2015, but has said he didn’t mention Legionnaire’s
February 2015: Snyder approves $2 million for Flint water projects. In an email exchange with the DEQ about a Flint home with high lead levels, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency employee Miguel Del Toral warns it may be a sign of systemic lead contamination. Department of Community Health official sends email to Flint preschools and daycares giving them a heads-up about high TTHM levels in Flint water and suggests they use bottled water. March 2015: Still lacking the legal authority to act because of state control of the city,
because there wasn’t a conclusive link between the outbreak and the water switch. “I assumed others would inform the Governor but looking back now it is clear that was not the case,” Hollins said in an email response to questions from MLive. Sara Wurfel has been vague on how the information was shared among the governor’s staff. “As the press secretary, I worked hard to identify and elevate important issues — including and especially water quality in Flint as issues and (questions) arose — to the executive office,” she said in an email to The Flint Journal. “I routinely flagged topics of concern for review and discussion. That was a role and responsibility I took immensely seriously. Recently released records underscore that fact. There were discussions about the critical issues raised in these emails.” While being grilled before a Congressional committee in Washington, D.C., in March, Snyder said he didn’t “recall” being told anything about Legionnaire’s before January this year. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5
the Flint City Council votes to do all things necessary to end the use of the river, a move emergency manager Ambrose calls “incomprehensible.” Spring/summer 2015: Questions increasingly surface over water testing methods and rising levels of lead in Flint water. The EPA’s Del Toral issues a report that questions why corrosion control isn’t being used and says lead and copper poisoning is a threat. Flint resident LeeAnne Walters’ child begins to show evidence of lead poisoning. Officials at the EPA and DEQ trade emails