Ms. Walters Testimony - Examining the Flint Water Crisis — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02My home used to be a place of comfort
2. 0:04and safety for my family. It used to be
3. 0:06what a home should be, a place of peace
4. 0:08and protection from the outside world.
5. 0:10That was taken from us. And not just
6. 0:12from my family, but from every home and
7. 0:14every citizen in Flint. Now my home is
8. 0:17known as ground zero. The people in
9. 0:19Flint now stand with the people in DC
10. 0:21who suffered their own lead crisis a
11. 0:23decade ago because we now know the
12. 0:25horror of poison running through our
13. 0:27taps and the negligence of the agencies
14. 0:29paid to protect us. In 2014, in a city
15. 0:33with no democracy, forced under
16. 0:35emergency manager, handpicked by
17. 0:37Governor Snyder, a decision was made to
18. 0:39switch the water source without the
19. 0:41proper testing and enforcement of
20. 0:43regulation. The MDEQ claims they
21. 0:45misinterpreted federal law regarding
22. 0:47corrosion control. They were allowed to
23. 0:50tell EPA they were following the law
24. 0:52without any
25. 0:53verifications. The citizens in Flint
26. 0:55were assured for 18 months that the
27. 0:57water was safe. My home was being tested
28. 0:59because of the discoloration of my water
29. 1:01and the health issues my family was
30. 1:04experiencing. We fought the city and the
31. 1:06state saying there was something wrong
32. 1:08and we were dismissed. I decided we need
33. 1:11to get to the science if anyone was ever
34. 1:13going to believe us. I started
35. 1:15researching and educating myself about
36. 1:17water. I had three tests done by the
37. 1:19city of Flint using extra steps that
38. 1:22tend to minimize lead and water. Those
39. 1:24numbers were 104 parts per billion, 397
40. 1:28parts per billion, and 707 parts per
41. 1:31billion. I contacted the EPA and started
42. 1:34working with Miguel Del Toro and
43. 1:36Jennifer Krooks at the EPA. Mr. Mr. Del
44. 1:38Toro was very thorough and knowledgeable
45. 1:40in assisting me. I told Mr. Del Toro I
46. 1:43did not believe there was corrosion
47. 1:44control in the water, provided him
48. 1:46documentation about this fact, and he
49. 1:49verified my findings and he was furious.
50. 1:51Mr. Del Toro questioned the MDEQ and at
51. 1:54first they lied and then later admitted
52. 1:56the
53. 1:58truth. I figured out that Miss Krooks
54. 2:00was aiding the MDQ with her lies and Mr.
55. 2:04Deloro was the only one willing to
56. 2:06address the problem. I requested a copy
57. 2:08of Mr. Del Toro's report and I made it
58. 2:11public because people had a right to
59. 2:13know. With the report public, Susan
60. 2:16Hedman, EPA, apologized to the mayor of
61. 2:19Flint and to the MDEQ because of policy.
62. 2:22No one but Mr. Del Toro was willing to
63. 2:24do their job. Mr. Del Toro was told by
64. 2:27the ethics attorney to forward all media
65. 2:29requests, including those during his
66. 2:32personal time. He was also advised not
67. 2:34to talk about about Flint or to anyone
68. 2:36from
69. 2:38Flint. In a meeting I had with MDEQ,
70. 2:41Leanne Shaker Smith bragged to me about
71. 2:44how Mr. Del Toro had been handled, that
72. 2:47his report was flawed, and that there
73. 2:49would be no final report. This was the
74. 2:52ultimate betrayal for the citizens.
75. 2:55Susan Hedman cared more about policy
76. 2:57than the welfare of an entire community
77. 2:59while punishing and silencing the one
78. 3:01person that was willing to help
79. 3:03us. I started doing independent testing
80. 3:05with Virginia Tech and 30 tests were
81. 3:07done. Tests that were performed in
82. 3:09accordance to the LCR. My average was
83. 3:122500 parts per billion. My highest was
84. 3:1513,500 parts per billion. Hazardous
85. 3:18waste is 5,000. Regardless of this
86. 3:20information and the fact that my son had
87. 3:22lead poisoning, the city and the MDEQ
88. 3:25still continued to tell everyone the
89. 3:27water was safe as the EPA sat by and
90. 3:29watched in silence. Because the state
91. 3:32and federal governments failed us, with
92. 3:34the help of Virginia Tech, we conducted
93. 3:36citizen-based samplings. We educated and
94. 3:38distributed 300 samples equally
95. 3:40throughout the city. We collected back
96. 3:42277 samples. All of this was done in a
97. 3:453-week turnaround. Here are the facts.
98. 3:48After the tragedy in DC from 2001 to
99. 3:512006 where children were poisoned by
100. 3:54lead and water, the EPA should have
101. 3:55immediately closed the loopholes to
102. 3:57protect all citizens. Had the EPA closed
103. 4:00the loopholes, then it could have 100%
104. 4:03present prevented what just took place
105. 4:04in Flint. EPA has failed to protect
106. 4:07people by refusing to ban partial lead
107. 4:09service line replacements. The EPA's LCR
108. 4:12national report from 2006 states that
109. 4:15the lack of system response for lead
110. 4:17exceedence is especially true to inform
111. 4:19the public. It is done less than
112. 4:21onethird of the time. From my research,
113. 4:24I have found that this is not a Flint
114. 4:26problem or a rare anomaly. This is a
115. 4:28national problem. Only 10 states test
116. 4:31accurately in according to the LCR. 21
117. 4:34states do not reveal their sampling
118. 4:35instructions and 19 states have testing
119. 4:38similar to loopholes to the Michigan
120. 4:40ones. There is no justifiable reason for
121. 4:42testing with loopholes except to hide
122. 4:44lead. These loopholes that need to be
123. 4:46eliminated are pre flush, small mouth
124. 4:49bottles and cap on stagnation. I spoke
125. 4:52against the NIDN NIDWAC recommendations
126. 4:55that we that are now currently under
127. 4:56advisement by the EPA to change the LCR.
128. 5:00These recommendations will weaken an
129. 5:01already broken system. And I am outraged
130. 5:04that the EPA continues to allow this
131. 5:05type of dishonesty with testing to
132. 5:07continue
133. 5:08nationally. The citizens in Flint are
134. 5:10relying on each of you because we have
135. 5:12no choice. We trust no one but Virginia
136. 5:14Tech. There are people in Flint today
137. 5:16still not being assisted during this
138. 5:18crisis. Illegal immigrants, disabled,
139. 5:20and shutins. Broken policy and
140. 5:23procedures are smothering the outcry of
141. 5:25an entire community suffering
142. 5:27financially, physically, mentally, and
143. 5:30emotionally. I urge you to help restore
144. 5:32some of the trust lost and protect all
145. 5:35the citizens in the United States by
146. 5:37never allowing this to happen again. We
147. 5:39need this to happen now, not 10 years
148. 5:41from now. Thank you. Thank
149. 5:45you again.