Three GOP senators are launching an inquiry into the Environmental Protection Agency's part in the Flint, Mich., water contamination crisis – and are taking its top official to task for shirking blame.
Sens. David Vitter of Louisiana, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and John Cornyn of Texas fired off a letter Thursday night to EPA's administrator, Gina McCarthy, asking for all correspondence, including between EPA headquarters and the regional administrator, on the water quality crisis, Vitter announced
in a statement Friday.
"The stated mission of the EPA is to 'protect human health and the enviroment,' yet the agency's failure to notify Flint residents that their drinking water was unsafe is a clear deviation from that mission,"
the senators write, adding that McCarthy put all the blame for the agency's failures on the region administrator.
"As you have alluded to before, leadership starts with you," the senators scolded.
The senators also noted in recent weeks Michigan officials
have begun resigning in the wake of the lead contamination crisis.
The crisis came to light months ago after an emergency manager appointed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder
diverted the struggling city's water supply from Lake Huron to the polluted Flint River to save money.
The river water, however, was so corrosive that it ate away the lining of the lead pipes delivering the water to residents' homes, and though toxic levels were rising, residents weren't alerted for months.
The FBI
has recently joined a federal criminal investigation into the crisis.
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