Congresswoman Debbie Dingell on Flint Water Crisis
Finances precipitated Flint water problem and switch to river water
Congresswoman Debbie Dingell speaks with Stephen Henderson about what she sees as the top priorities for handling the water crisis in Flint. President Barack Obama pledged $80-million from the federal government for Flint. In addition, the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA is providing bottled water to residents. Dingell says it’s important to determine where the bureaucratic system failed in order to prevent the same thing from happening elsewhere. Congresswoman Dingell also answered calls from listeners.
Failure: Representative Dingell says that leadership at every point in Flint’s water supply chain of command is responsible for the crisis. “Government at all levels has failed the people of Flint,” Dingell states.
Fees: Officials have said that the reason Flint switched to it’s own source of water was the cost Detroit was charging for access to its supply. “The city of Flint was paying a million dollars a month for water from the city of Detroit.” Dingell claims.
Corrosion: GM officials told Flint city managers that they were no longer using the city’s water due to its observations that the water was corroding engines. “That didn’t get the immediate attention that it should of,” Dingell says.
