By Tom Travis. Read or Share this story: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/12/16/gina-mccarthy-flint-water-crisis/3919781001/,  also told NBC 25 in Saginaw that the expected appointment was "absolutely appalling", McCarthy had also clearly known for months that corrosion controls weren't being used before it finally stepped in to force compliance, emails from at least one expert, EPA Region 5 Regulations Manager Miguel Del Toral, nearly a year before Snyder and the Obama administration declared states of emergency in Flint, an exhaustive look at EPA emails by the Free Press found that agency officials knew of the potential dangers, New Supreme Court filing has blatantly wrong information about Michigan, Benson refuses to testify at House hearing, GVSU student found dead: Police urge campus to 'stop spreading false information', Ex-Trump election chief knocks down Antrim report, Andiamo in Warren liquor license suspended, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Flint, Michigan has struggled economically for decades, beginning with an economic depression in the late 1980s when several General Motors factories closed and thousands of people were put out of work. Follow him on Twitter @tsspangler. We were misled. While environmental justice is a critical issue all across the United States, it is especially prevalent in Flint, Michigan, where low-income residents and communities of color make up a significant proportion of the population being disproportionately affected. Representative Dan Kildee (MI-5), who’s congressional district encompasses the city of Flint, agreed, viewing race as, “the single greatest determinant of what happened in Flint.”, Even as the Flint Water Crisis made national and international headlines, efforts to remedy the disaster wereas slow within the government. However, the switch from different water supplies meant that corrosion inhibitors were not applied to the water, and as a result there was a negative reaction between the new water supply and the lead pipes in the city’s water system. , Dr. Mohai wrote that communities disproportionately burdened by environmental contamination and health risks are, “also places where residents are not given meaningful say in the decisions that affect their communities and quality of life, where their concerns about pollution and the health impacts are minimized, discounted or dismissed, and where residents are treated disrespectfully and shown they have little influence or clout.” Given that, the decision to switch the water supply was approved by state-appointed emergency managers. . “The people of Michigan won’t soon forget Gina McCarthy’s mishandling of and failure to adequately respond to the Flint water crisis as EPA administrator," U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Tipton Republican and a former member of the committee who took part in the Flint hearings,  told the Free Press Wednesday morning. The City Council has delayed voting on the water crisis settlement (WCS) again until Monday, Dec 21. This council includes individuals from a variety of backgrounds in community education, energy justice, and public policy, from a number of communities across the state. The current work under Governor Whitmer’s administration has the opportunity to push Michigan in the right direction in the fight to secure justice for all, and reshape the environmental landscape for years to come. The Michigan Department of Civil Righ, , “a complex mix of historical, structural and systemic racism combined with implicit bias led to decisions, actions, and consequences in Flint [that] would not have been allowed to happen in primarily White communities such as Birmingham, Ann Arbor, or East Grand Rapids.”, Racial systemic inequities are one explanation for the poor response to the Flint Water Crisis. This is in contrast with Michigan’s overall population, which is 14%  Black, and 14% living in poverty. Michigan was launched into the national spotlight in April 2014, when the city of Flint switched its water supply from the Detroit Water and Sewage Department to the Flint River. The legacy of redlining depreciated home values, which in turn contributed to job discrimination and continued racial inequity. "Michigan, your votes mattered, and Biden is bringing Flint water to all of us. 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