Lawmaker: Michigan governor responsible for Flint crisis

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker is accusing Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder of being responsible for the lead contamination in the water supply in Flint, Michigan.

And at a hearing today, Congressman Elijah Cummings of Maryland said that if Snyder were running a business instead of running a state, he would probably be facing criminal charges.

Snyder told the panel at a contentious hearing that the state Department of Environmental Quality repeatedly gave him assurances that the water being piped in from the Flint River was safe -- when in fact it had dangerous levels of lead.

But Cummings said the governor should have done more to push back against state experts. He says the committee has documents "showing that people all around the governor were sounding the alarms, but he either ignored them or didn't hear them."

The chairman of the oversight panel, Republican Jason Chaffetz of Utah, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also deserves blame. He told EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, "You failed."

He also took issue with McCarthy's comment that it was "courageous" for the EPA's Midwest regional chief to resign as the crisis got worse. The Republican lawmaker told her, "If you want to do the courageous thing, then you, too, should resign."

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178-a-09-(Representative Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairman, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, during hearing)-"should step down"-House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz calls on EPA Administrator Gina McCarty to resign for mishandling the Flint water crisis. (17 Mar 2016)

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176-a-11-(Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator, testifying before House Oversight and Government Reform Committee)-"supply was switched"-EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says the state gave the EPA misleading and incorrect information about Flint's water situation. (17 Mar 2016)

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174-a-11-(Representative Elijah Cummings, D-Md., ranking Democrat, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, during hearing)-"on criminal charges"-Congressman Elijah Cummings says Michigan's governor is responsible for the lead crisis in Flint. (17 Mar 2016)

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APPHOTO DCAH128: EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy testifies before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Washington, Thursday, March 17, 2016, to look into the circumstances surrounding high levels of lead found in many residents' tap water in Flint, Michigan. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (17 Mar 2016)

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APPHOTO DCAH129: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy appear before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Washington, Thursday, March 17, 2016, to look into the circumstances surrounding high levels of lead found in many residents' tap water in Flint, Michigan. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (17 Mar 2016)

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