Report blames Gov. Rick Snyder's office for Flint water crisis

Gov. Snyder is to blame for Flint water crisis, says report.

(Image credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

published 23 March 2016

An independent task force appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has concluded that blame for the Flint water crisis spans all levels of government, including local officials and the Environmental Protection Agency, though it placed the blame primarily on the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the agency that monitors Flint's water supply.

In a report released Wednesday, the panel says state employees disregarded warning signs of lead contamination in the city's drinking water and that response time was slowed by "environmental injustice."

"Flint residents, who are majority black or African-American and among the most impoverished of any metropolitan area in the United States, did not enjoy the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards as that provided to other communities," the report concludes.