By Courtney Bourgoin
Gary Wilson
Great Lakes Echo commentator Gary Wilson says that state agencies are not the only ones to blame for the Flint water crisis.
The Environmental Protection Agency also was slow to respond to reports of lead in the water, Wilson recently told Western Michigan University’s WestSouthwest radio show on 102.1 WMUK.
For three months, the federal agency ignored petitions from Natural Resource Defense Council monitors who called for intervention, Wilson said. Experience with the Toledo water crisis caused by Lake Erie pollution should have prompted quicker federal action.
“That’s two strikes against the EPA here on safe drinking water,” Wilson said. “That’s not a good record.”
Wilson says the “turf wars” and “not-my-job” approach revealed a lack of leadership at multiple levels of government– one that failed a major Michigan city. Full interview.