Government Response and Failures
The authorities admitted the problem much later, stating the crisis officially only in late 2015 – more than a year and a half after the change of the water source. Some of the reasons for this delay were the lack of proper test procedures and the disregard of other independent studies revealing high levels of lead (Denchak, 2024). Despite the growing evidence of contamination, some officials still tried to play down the situation and failed to gain the public trust (Sanburn, 2016).
An alarming loss of synergy between different government departments was another factor that worsened the situation. The task force report also indicated that the MDEQ did not understand the federal regulations and did not demand the appropriate water treatment (Sanburn, 2016). Other organizations including the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency were also accused of poor and slow response.
In the report that was published in March 2016, the task force mainly attributed the blame to the MDEQ for the failure to correctly understand the federal guidelines and for not insisting on the corrosion control treatment (Masten et al., 2016; Ray, 2019). The report also accused other state agencies and the emergency managers selected by the governor of inefficiency. These problems included problems in the governmental decision-making, regulatory, and crisis management structures, which contributed to the continuous occurrence of the water crisis even when there was evidence of lead contamination (Carmody, 2022).