Regional EPA Director Resigns Following Flint Water Crisis

Flint resident Lorraine Jones pours canned water into a pot in preparation for boiling to cook on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, at River Park Apartments in Flint, Mich. After weeks without water being distributed, the resi... Flint resident Lorraine Jones pours canned water into a pot in preparation for boiling to cook on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, at River Park Apartments in Flint, Mich. After weeks without water being distributed, the residents are finally getting bottled water delivered to their doorsteps for the first time Tuesday as four Flint Housing Commission workers shuttled cases of water throughout the community. (Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP) MORE LESS

CHICAGO (AP) — A regional director with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is resigning in connection with the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

EPA chief Gina McCarthy says Thursday that Susan Hedman is stepping down effective Feb. 1. Hedman is administrator of EPA’s Region 5, which is based in Chicago and includes Michigan.

McCarthy says she accepted Hedman’s resignation to ensure the regional office remains solely focused on the restoration of Flint’s drinking water.

McCarthy also says she has issued an emergency order to “ensure the state and city immediately take actions necessary to protect public health.”

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  1. As the Governor slowly rows the lifeboat away —

  2. and the media dutifully rows behind him

  3. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    I’m not following here. What were her duties and obligations regarding Flint versus the Governor and his team? It was the Governor’s people who decided to change the source of the water. And then failed to follow up on the serious allegations that followed. What was the regional EPA director’s responsibility in this?

  4. If the EPA cant keep our water clean then i guess we dont need them!! Im pretty sure that if the Governor were really responsible to make sure that Flint had clean/safe water then an EPA official would not be claiming responsibility.

  5. Avatar for ajm ajm says:

    How do you poison a city?

    If you see a forest fire raging in your state, do you wait for the Feds to get there? Especially if you are the one who dropped the match?

    Governor Snyder is clues, callous, incurious and incompetent and totally lacking in empathy. His approach to this problem in his most recent speech resembles that of the theater manager who assured Mrs. Lincoln that they were going to make it right.

    Some things are past fixing.

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