The FBI on Tuesday said it was joining a criminal investigation of lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, Michigan, exploring whether laws were broken in a crisis that has captured international attention.
Federal prosecutors in Michigan were working with an investigative team that included the FBI, the Postal Inspection Service, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General and its Criminal Investigation Division, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney’s Office in Detroit said.
An FBI spokeswoman said the agency was determining whether federal laws were broken, but declined further comment.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy met with officials and community leaders in Flint and told reporters she could not give a timeline for fixing the problem. She said the agency was examining where it might have fallen short, but declined to address the criminal probes.
The city, about 100km northwest of Detroit, Michigan, was under the control of a state-
appointed emergency manager when it switched the source of its tap water from Detroit’s system to the Flint River in April 2014.
Flint switched back in October last year after tests found high levels of lead in blood samples taken from children. The more corrosive water from the river leached more lead from the city pipes than Detroit water did.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, who extended a state of emergency in Flint until April 14, has repeatedly apologized for the poor handling of the matter.
The ability to seek criminal charges under US environmental laws is limited, said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and a former federal prosecutor. Prosecutors would need to find something egregious like a knowingly false statement.
“You need something that is false to build a case,” he said.
Simply failing to recognize the seriousness of the situation would not rise to that level, he added.
In Washington, US senators Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, Democrats from Michigan, pushed for US$600 million in aid, mostly in federal funds, to help Flint replace pipes and provide healthcare.
US Senator James Inhofe, a Republican who chairs an environmental committee, said an agreement to help Flint was close and would be a combination of revolving funds and other aid.
Money from a revolving fund is like a loan, with the money going to the recipient and then being repaid so there is no net cost to US taxpayers.
US Senator John Cornyn, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, said aid to Flint must not add to US budget deficits for “what is a local and state problem.”
US Representative Candice Miller, a Republican from Michigan, proposed an emergency bill to provide US$1 billion in funds to be used to replace Flint’s water pipes.
The House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was yesterday to hold a hearing on the crisis. Interim Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Keith Creagh was to apologize for its handling of the case, and an EPA water official was to tell the committee that reforms must be enacted to prevent a repeat, according to advance testimony.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia