Ex-Flint water manager says he's been 'vilified' unjustly

WASHINGTON, March 15 (UPI) -- Top state officials who saw the Flint, Mich., water crisis explode under their watches testified before Congress on Tuesday, largely deflecting the blame for the city's contaminated water supply that's threatened tens of thousands of residents.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and ex-Flint Emergency Manager Darnell Earley were perhaps the most notable officials to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Tuesday.

"I believe I have been unjustly persecuted, vilified and smeared both personally and professionally," Earley, who was grilled by members of the committee.

In one specific question, Earley was asked whether he ever thought to look into past water-related actions taken by government officials before the Snyder administration.

"I'm trying to draw a distinction between responsibility and blame," Earley said.

Snyder was scheduled to testify later Tuesday.

Susan Hedman, a former manager for the Environmental Protection Agency's region that covers Michigan, testified that she ordered immediate action in June, as soon as she learned the water was unsafe.

"I did not sit on the sidelines," she emphasized. "This tragedy happened on my watch."

Former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling told the committee Tuesday that local emergency managers, conscious of the city's financial struggles, should receive most of the blame for their decisions that led to the contamination.

Walling, who was mayor when officials decided to use the Flint River to supply the city's water in 2014, said Wednesday that prior arguments from Michigan officials claimed the city council approved the switch -- an assertion he called "blatantly false."

It's believed that corrosive old water pipes leaked lead into the supply -- and kept reaching residents even months after the city stopped using the river as its source.

"These same decisions would not have been made by City Council," Walling wrote in a prepared testimony. "When the manager's decisions became known, I expressed my concerns internally about the switch, including the community's perception of the river as polluted."

Earley has underscored the fact that the decision to use the river was made before he was appointed by Snyder in October 2013 -- and that he was even assured by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality that it was safe to do so.

A volunteer unwraps cases of bottled water to distribute to residents affected by the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, Saturday, March 5, 2016. Flint residents continue to use bottled water after the drinking water was found to be contaminated with lead. Photo by Molly Riley/UPI

"We were grossly misled by experts at MDEQ," Earley said. "[Not] at any point and time during the preparation for the switch did I receive any information that would even remotely indicate that the use of the Flint River was unsafe in any way."

Adding even more controversy to the ordeal, it was announced Monday that Snyder will move forward with a plan to spend $1.2 million in state funds for a legal defense to shield him from potential civil and criminal charges. Numerous suits have already been filed.

"We are suffering and nobody is paying for our attorneys," Flint resident Melissa Mays said. "So we have to pay for his legal defense against what he did to us? ... Nobody's paying my kid's medical bills, nobody's helping for what they've done to us."

The State Administrative Board is reviewing Snyder's plan but did not act on it Tuesday. It did, however, approve $1.5 million in taxpayer money to be spent on an investigation by the office of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

"It's beyond outrageous that Snyder wants to take $1.2 million from Michigan taxpayers to pay for defense attorneys over his involvement in the poisoning of Flint's water," Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Brandon Dillon said last week.

Lead toxicity is dangerous for children because it can interfere with the development of the brain and nervous system, and carries other health risks for many organs and systems -- some of which may not be apparent for years after exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Officials have estimated that as many as 12,000 children have been exposed to the contaminated water.

The state's department of environmental quality has taken much of the blame for failing to order corrosion control treatment when the switch occurred -- and for failing to see warning signs, like General Motors' decision in 2014 to end water service from Flint because the water seemed corrosive on its automotive equipment.

It is sickening, all of it," Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the committee's ranking Democrat, said.