title: std infection rates reach alltime high in the united states
text: scandal epa could have issued an emergency order  months before flint water crisis became public knowledge 
  monday october   by j d heyes tags flint  water crisis  epa coverup naturalnews the federal bureaucracy and corresponding state agencies have never been much good at responding to crises in a timely fashion and that tradition was alive and well during the recent toxic water crisis in flint michiganin fact according to a newly released watchdog report americans now know that the federal environmental protection agency epa could have intervened in the crisis a full seven months before it finally did meaning thousands of residents in flint would have had to drink far less water tainted with leadas reported by the associated press  the epas inspector general said that the agency had the authority and enough information to issue emergency orders to protect flint residents from the leadcontaminated water they were drinking as early as june  seven months before officials finally declared an emergencyinspector general arthur elkins said in an interim report that the water crisis should have created a greater sense of urgency for the epa to intervene when the safety of drinking water is compromised everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else the drinking water in flint became tainted with unsafe levels of lead after city officials decided to begin drawing from the flint river in april  in a bid to save money the broke city of about  residents north of detroit was under state control at the timeregulators did not make sure that the water was properly treated so lead from aging pipes leached into the supply the ap reportedsince the discovery of high levels of lead federal state and local officials have traded accusations about who is most to blame for the crisis  even as residents are still forced to drink bottled or filtered waterdoctors have detected higher than normal levels of lead in hundreds of children around the city and many taps remain offlimitsgov rick snyder a republican appointed a panel to look into the matter it concluded that the state is fundamentally accountable for the lead crisis due to decisions made by state environmental regulators as well as stateappointed emergency managers who were in charge of running the citybut that said once the epa discovered that water being consumed by city residents was tainted with unsafe levels of lead snyder believes the agency should have acted  and he is rightas gov snyder has stated all along what happened in flint was the result of failure of government at all levels his spokeswoman anna heaton said recentlysince the crisis began officials have tried to reshuffle the deck so to speak and call it reform they say some state agencies have undergone culture changes that will supposedly prevent future recurrences of epic failure according to heaton who called such changes encouraging people should be held accountable  but wont be its unclear how many people actually believe that considering that state agencies had mandates already to protect the public from polluted and contaminated water as did the epa by culture changes does heaton mean that people were fired and actually replaced by others who will do what taxpayers are paying them to doflint mayor karen weaver a democrat who took office after the crisis emerged said agencies like the epa and the michigan department of environmental quality are there to help ensure the wellbeing and safety of men women and children yet they failed in their core mission to do so she also called for those who are responsible for the crisis to be held accountable though we advise her not to hold her breathas for the epas inspector general report it said that the agencys midwest region did not issue an emergency order because officials concluded actions taken by the state prevented the epa from doing so the report says that their interpretation was not correct and that according to federal law when state actions are deemed to be unacceptable the epa can and should proceed with an emergency order designed to protect the public in a timely mannerwithout epa intervention the conditions in flint persisted and the state continued to delay taking action to require corrosion control or provide alternative drinking water supplies the report said sources