EPA official resigns over Flint water crisis

Susan Hedman, the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 5 administrator, will resign effective Feb. 1, the EPA announced Thursday.

Hedman oversees Michigan and the rest of the Midwest. A state of emergency has been declared in Flint over high levels of lead in the water, and in a statement, the EPA said Hedman's resignation was accepted "given Susan's strong interest in ensuring that EPA Region 5's focus remains solely on the restoration of Flint's drinking water." The EPA also ordered Michigan on Thursday to take "immediate action to address serious and ongoing concerns" with the city's drinking water system, The Detroit News reports.

The EPA said it "determined that the city of Flint's and the state of Michigan's responses to the drinking water crisis in Flint have been inadequate to protect the public health and that these failures continue." A letter has been sent to Gov. Rick Snyder (R), directing the state to implement EPA task force recommendations on sampling water and ensure Flint has the assistance necessary to safely operate its water system and to transition from its current water source to the newly created Karegnondi Water Authority later this year.

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