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The mistakes made The MLive staff The reporters from MLive’s Impact Team spent six weeks combing through tens of thousands of government emails and documents, and contacting dozens of government officials and experts for this investigation into the Flint water crisis and the response of Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration. Reporter Ron Fonger made two trips to Washington, D.C., for interviews, research and to cover Snyder’s testimony before a congressional committee in March. Julie Mack went to work as a reporter for her hometown newspaper, the Jackson Citizen Patriot, in 1981 after she graduated from Michigan State University. She also worked at the Staten Island (New York) Advance and Hartford (Connecticut) Courant before she returned to Michigan to work for the Kalamazoo Gazette in 1990.
More than 150 protestors from Flint and Detroit chant, seeking the resignation of Gov. Rick Snyder over Flint’s water crisis Jan. 14, 2016, at the state Capitol in Lansing. (Sean Proctor | MLive.com) CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
As for the EPA, Sikkema noted the agency didn’t issue an order until January 2016 — almost a year after it first became aware of a potential problem. “They could have taken enforcement action earlier, and they should have,” Sikkema said. “There is no excuse for that.” “But if I were the DEQ, I wouldn’t be criticizing the EPA too much,” he added. “We’re saying the EPA delayed making the DEQ do their job. The delay of the EPA hardly absolves the DEQ from creating the situation in the first place.” Sikkema said he thinks that, overall, the Snyder administration got caught up in groupthink. “Once the decision was made by the emergency manager to use the Flint River, I think there a circling of the wagons and a feeling of ‘We’re going to defend this,’” Sikkema said. Baird offered a different perspective. “I’m not a scientist or an engineer. I was told there were an inordinate number of water main breaks which resulted in discolored water and over (or under) chlorination which contributed to the smell,” Baird wrote in an email response to MLive questions. “Every time I asked, the response was that the water meets the range established for drinking standards and the problems were being addressed.”
“Not a day or night goes by that this tragedy doesn’t weigh on my mind. What are the questions I should have asked? What are the answers I should have demanded? How I could have prevented this?” GOV. RICK SNYDER
LONG-LASTING HARM
In the months since Snyder released his first action plan for Flint, numerous lawsuits have been filed; four people have lost their jobs, including DEQ director Wyant and the regional director of the EPA; and more criminal charges may result from investigations by the FBI, Michigan attorney general and the Genesee County prosecutor. Snyder is facing calls for his resignations and is the subject of a recall campaign. “Not a day or night goes by that this tragedy doesn’t weigh on my mind,” Snyder said in the written responses to MLive’s questions. “What are the questions I should have asked? What
Gov. Rick Snyder drinks Flint water May 2, 2016, during a news conference after he filled up four one-gallon jugs with tap water at Blackstone’s Pub & Grill in downtown Flint. Snyder says he is drinking the water while at work and home. (Jake May | MLive.com)
are the answers I should have demanded? How I could have prevented this?” Posthumus defended the governor’s handling of the Flint
“confirmation from our experts that there was a problem” with lead in water. He said the information came from the DEQ. Oct. 2: State officials publicly announce there is a problem with lead in Flint’s drinking water and begin to roll out an action plan. Wurfel Oct. 8: Snyder announces that Flint will reconnect with the Detroit water system. Oct. 19: Wyant says his department misinterpreted the federal lead and copper rules and should have required the use of phos-
water crisis. “It’s like a hurricane. It’s going to come, you can’t stop it. Just deal it with the best you can,” Posthumus said.
phates to control corrosion in Flint water. Dec. 14: Flint Mayor Karen Weaver declares a state of emergency, saying the city needs federal help to deal with its lead-in-water crisis. Dec. 30: Wyant and DEQ Director of Communications Brad Wurfel resign. Jan. 12: Snyder activates the National Guard. Jan. 13: Snyder announces a possible link between Flint water and a Legionnaire’s disease outbreak that resulted in 12 deaths in
Beyond Snyder’s legacy, the Flint water crisis has generated debate about the more philosophical questions pertaining to governance. Rothstein said the task force members talked among themselves about how the crisis is a prime example of the unintended consequences of government budget cuts, especially the “systemic funding cuts in public health” to the point where “government agencies don’t have the tools or the resources to do their jobs.” Bucholz said the crisis proves “government cannot be run like a business. This is an absolute failure of that concept.” This was a case where decisions were made based on money versus sound public policy, and “public water is the last thing you do on the cheap,” Bucholz said. It also reflects the unintended consequences of the “systemic dismantling of government by conservatives” via budget cuts and the disdain for government regulation, he said. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, sounded a similar theme. “That is all anyone needs to know about the state of Michigan and Gov. Snyder’s approach to this,” he said. “It was as if he was running a company he took over. He is running Michigan like he acquired it on Wall Street. “He said he was going to govern by dashboard, (but) there’s no little dial there for health of the kids in Flint. It’s just a failed philosophy of government.” Truscott, the former Engler aide who now heads a consulting firm, said he was “a big fan of the governor until this incident. There was obviously a breakdown on so many levels.” “I really sympathize” with Snyder, he added. “I think he’s done so much good for the state. “But this is one area where he didn’t ask the right questions,” Truscott said. “I think he’s taken responsibility and working to fix it but, unfortunately, some of the harm is permanent or very longlasting.” — MLive reporter Emily Lawler contributed to this report.
Genesee County. Despite state, local and federal officials having been aware of the potential connection for more than a year, Snyder says he was only made aware of the issue a few days before the announcement. Jan. 16: President Barack Obama signs an emergency declaration to assist Flint. Jan. 21: EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman, whose area of responsibility includes Flint, resigns. Feb. 3: A Congressional committee investigating the Flint water crisis holds its first meeting, hearing testimony from Edwards, Walters and others.
Ron Fonger, a Flint native and graduate of Northern Michigan University, was hired by The Flint Journal in 1995 after working at newspapers in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Earlier this year, he was named Journalist of the Year by the Detroit chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists for his work on the Flint water crisis. John Counts worked at several newspapers throughout Michigan before joining annarbor. com, now part of MLive, in 2012. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University and a master of fine arts degree from Columbia College in Chicago. Jake May, multimedia specialist, joined The Flint Journal and MLive Media Group in 2013 . May, 29, of Flint, has won multiple awards for his work, including the Barry Edmonds Michigan Understanding Award for the Michigan Press Photographers Association. He serves as the Midwest chair for the National Press Photographers Association and attended Central Michigan University. Katie Karnes, a graphic artist for MLive’s eight Michigan newspapers, designed this section. She joined Valley Publishing, later MLive Media Group, in 2011. She earned her bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Saginaw Valley State University. Jerry Seim, a manager in MLive’s Presentation Hub, edited this section. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Wayne State University and an M.A. from the University of Wyoming. He worked at the Casper Star-Tribune before joining The Grand Rapids Press.
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VIDEO •Who knew what when? See when top state government officials knew about the Flint water crisis and their proximity to the governor: bit.ly/FlintWaterVideo •Get complete coverage of the water crisis: mlive.com/flintwater
Feb. 5: The DEQ’s Liane Shekter Smith, head of the office of municipal drinking water for the state, is fired. March 17: Snyder tells members of Congress it is a “fair conclusion” to say Michigan’s emergency manager system failed Flint during the city’s water crisis. March 23: The Flint water task force, appointed by Snyder, finds the state primarily responsible for the water crisis. April 20: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announces charges against DEQ employees Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby, and Flint employee Michael Glasgow.