Flint, Michigan, Gets Its Hearing on Capitol Hill (photos)

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform focused for the first time on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, at a hearing on Capitol Hill Feb. 3. The residents of Flint received national attention as high levels of lead in their water supply made their water irritating to the skin and unsafe to drink since 2014. During the hearing, lawmakers of both parties grilled federal and state officials about actions that have resulted in fears of lead poisoning in children, blaming the crisis in varying degrees as a failure of government at all levels.

The hearing got underway with testimony from Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), whose district encomposes Flint. He was followed by a panel of four. Marc Edwards, the engineering professor from Virginia Tech who helped uncover the contamination of Flint’s water, put the blame on state environmental officials for a cover-up and some in the Environmental Protection Agency for not detecting the problem sooner. Joel Beauvais, a deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water, was questioned about the EPA’s delayed response to Flint. Keith Creagh of Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality was on the defensive for much of the hearing. Rounding out the panel was Flint resident LeeAnne Walters, known nationally as the mother who exposed the Flint water crisis.

Democrats on the committee, led by ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) continued to call for Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) to bring Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to Washington for questioning, but the hearing ended without a decision on that score. Also missing from the hearing was Darnell Earley, who was Flint’s state-appointed emergency manager between 2013 and 2015. Early was invited but apparently refused to testify.

The hearing was punctuated by congressmen of both parties yelling at officials, and emotional outbursts from many in the overflow crowd which included several busloads of residents from Flint and Detroit, Michigan, many wearing “Flint Lives Matter” T-shirts.

From her seat in the gallery, one Michigander, Gladyes Williamson,held up large clumps of her hair in one hand and a bottle of tainted water from her sink in the other. Many later gathered outside the building for an emotional circle of prayer, urging a mixture of divine help, guidance and retribution.

View our photos from inside and outside the emotional hearing by clicking on the photo icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet.)