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The Failure of Cooperative Federalism in Flint, Michigan
Author(s) -
Fewell Brent
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.5942/jawwa.2016.108.0084
Subject(s) - agency (philosophy) , government (linguistics) , corporate governance , federalism , political science , business , economic policy , law , finance , sociology , politics , social science , linguistics , philosophy
For over a year now, the citizens of Flint have been drinking water with significantly elevated lead levels, raising serious concerns about the impacts of lead exposure on children and others who have used the water for drinking and cooking. Lead levels were detected as high as 13,200 μg/L, orders of magnitude above the federal action level of 15 μg/L. Fallout from the crisis has prompted the resignations of the heads of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and US Environmental Protection Agency Region 5. While many questions remain, and recriminations, investigations, and litigation will continue in the foreseeable future, what is clear is that the event constitutes a colossal failure of government and governance. We may never fully appreciate the full extent of crisis and the lingering impacts on the people of Flint.