Update on OAG letter and our statement
- From
- Meegan Holland
- To
- A Walsh, John , James Redford
Colleagues,
The Office of the Auditor General has released the letter. We’ve developed a statement, based on the
summary you read the other night, that spells out how things came down. We hope media will pick up on the
fact that the DEQ was largely following protocols, or in one case, an ambiguous one that EPA later clarified.
FYI - Sen. Ananich has released the following in regard to the OAG letter: "The Auditor General has provided
an important piece of this puzzle and I'm sure the extended report they are working on will reveal additional
information,” said Ananich. “What's clear is that corrosion control should have been used and there are
serious failings in our system that must be addressed. Between the FOIA emails released recently and these
findings, it's obvious that legislative oversight is the best way to see how all of these pieces fit together. |
expect holding hearings to be high on the agenda when the Legislature returns.”
On Tuesday, we plan to release this statement by the Governor. It’s been tweaked slightly since our review the
other night, thanks to feedback from the Governor, Jim Redford and others.
“l’ve been briefed on the recent meeting of the task force studying the Flint water situation and I’ve read the
report from the Office of the Auditor General on the processes used by DEQ to monitor Flint water.
“The bi-partisan task force has worked tirelessly to interview Flint, Genesee County, state and federal officials
to complete its independent analysis. They are reviewing hundreds of documents at all levels of government
and from the public health science community.
“I'd like to thank the task force for keeping me apprised of their continuing investigation. As they uncover
more facts, it’s clear to me we can do better. Their report may take another month or so, but if we need to
make changes more swiftly, | plan to take immediate action.
“No matter what the testing requirements were, they were not enough to prevent this crisis.
“When it comes to matters of health and quality of life, we’re committed to doing everything we can to
protect the well-being of our citizens.
“| understand there can be disagreements within the scientific community. That is why | have told my
directors at MDEQ and DHHS to invite every external scientist who has worked on the Flint water issue to the
state laboratory facilities to work as partners with us. Together, we should be able to affirm that we’re using
the very best testing protocols to ensure Flint residents have safe drinking water and that we’re doing proper
monitoring and remediation of blood levels and other health impacts over the long term.
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“| want the Flint community and all citizens of Michigan to know how very sorry | am that this has happened.
“But | know an apology isn’t enough. We’ve already allocated $10 million to test the water, distribute water
filters, and help in other ways. On Thursday, | called Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, and we’re going to sit down in
the next week to discuss other ways the state can offer assistance.
“| want to assure residents there that we will work hard to make things right.”
Meegan Holland
Director of Communications for Gov. Rick Snyder
Office: 517-335-6397
Twitter: @meholland
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