On Wednesday, the Flint Water Advisory Task Force issued their final report related to the Flint water crisis, including thirty six findings and forty four recommendations.  Since they were convened by Governor Rick Snyder in October 2015, the members of the task force have conducted interviews of those involved and reviewed pertinent documents.  The task force concluded that the Flint water crisis was a result of government failure, including that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) failed to effectively enforce drinking water regulations and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) failed to act quickly to protect public health.  Additionally, the report finds problems with the Flint Water Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who they found delayed in enforcing the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Lead and Copper Rule.  Furthermore, they state that neither the Governor nor his office took steps to reverse either the DEQ or the state appointed emergency manager’s poor decisions until October 2015.  The report goes on to find that the crisis occurred due to decisions made by the state-appointed emergency manager(s) who made city decisions instead of the local officials being decision makers and thus removed the checks and balances and public accountability.  The task force found that because of the role of the emergency manager, the accountability for the crisis rest with state government.

The final report includes forty four recommendations to be undertaken by several departments and throughout all levels of government, in addition to state-wide recommendations.  A sample of those recommendations are below:

Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

• Implement a proactive, comprehensive cultural change program to refocus on its primary mission to protect human health and the environment.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

• Re-establish the Michigan Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and Control Commission.
• Establish policies and procedures to ensure input by health experts and scientists.
• In the future, in cases of switches to drinking water supplies, assume the outbreaks of Legionellosis cases may be related to changes in the water source.

Michigan Governor’s Office

• Create a culture in state government that is not defensive about concerns and evidence that contradict official positions.
• The Governor must assume the leadership of, and hold state departments accountable for, long-term implementation of recommendations in this report.

State-Appointed Emergency Managers

• Review the Emergency Manager Law and its implementation, and identify measure to compensate for the loss of checks and balances.
• Consider alternatives to the current emergency manager approach.

City of Flint

• Establish and fund a team of subject matter experts to support and train water system personnel.
• Implement a robust public engagement and involvement program in conjunction with the anticipated conversion to KWA-deliver water.

Genesee County Health Department

• Improve follow-up on public health concerns now and in the future to effect timely, comprehensive, and coordinated activity to ensure the best health outcomes for affected children and adults.

United States Environmental Protection Agency

• Exercise more vigor, and act more promptly, in addressing compliance violations that endanger public health.
• Clarify and strengthen the Lead and Copper Rule.

State-wide Recommendations

• Institute a school and daycare water quality testing program.
• Develop a model lead service line replacement program and funding mechanisms for financing work on private property.
• Prioritize health matters across all state agencies with establishment of a new Cabinet-level post focused on public health.

To view the full report, please click here.

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