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CONTAMINATEDWATER DANIELMEARS—DETROITNEWS Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder addresses questions by the media a er release of the Flint Water Advisory Task Force final report at Mott Community College in Flint, Mich., on Wednesday. By David Eggert and Mike Householder The Associated Press FLINT, MICH. The state of Michigan is "fundamen- tally accountable" for Flint's lead-contaminated water crisis because of decisions made by its environmen- tal regulators and state-ap- pointed emergency manag- ers who controlled the city, an investigatory task force concluded Wednesday in a withering report. The panel, appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder to review the disaster, said what hap- pened in Flint is "a story of government failure, in- transigence, unprepared- ness, delay, inaction, and environmental injustice." It also cited "intransigence and belligerence that has no place in government." "Flint water customers were needlessly and trag- ically exposed to toxic lev- els of lead and other haz- ards through the misman- agement of their drinking water supply," investiga- tors said. Moreover, the 116-page report described as "inap- propriate" a frequent claim of Snyder and his represen- tatives that the Flint water crisis represents a failure of the local, state and fed- eral governments. That sug- gests "that blame is attrib- utable equally to all three levels of government," the report said. "The state is fundamen- tally accountable for what happened in Flint," it said. Flint's 2014 switch in drinking water sources led the supply to become contaminated when lead leached from old pipes and fixtures into some homes, businesses and schools. The Republican governor has re- peatedly apologized for the state's role as some have called for his resignation. "One of the biggest les- sons we hope to impart in our report is the need for government leaders to lis- ten to their constituents; in Flint that didn't happen," said Chris Kolb, co-chair- man of the Flint Water Ad- visory Task Force. While investigators pri- marily blamed the state De- partment of Environmental Quality — they initially did so in preliminary findings that led the agency's direc- tor to resign in December — they also faulted a host of other government offices and officials for contribut- ing to the fiasco or delay- ing action to fix it. Those include the Mich- igan Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency, the Genesee County Health Department, the city of Flint and finan- cial managers that Snyder named to run the city of nearly 100,000 people. The five-member task force interviewed 66 peo- ple during its months-long investigation, issued 36 findings and made 44 rec- ommendations, including considering alternatives to the emergency manager system. Michigan's environmen- tal agency erred in numer- ous ways, the report found. Misinterpreting federal reg- ulations, it instructed Flint not to treat the water with anti-corrosive additives af- ter switching from the De- troit water system — which drew from Lake Huron — to the Flint River. The state DEQ did not change course even after an initial six-month testing period revealed elevated lead levels, the report said. It also provided inadequate guidance to Flint staffers on water sampling, snubbed of- fers of help from the federal EPA and dragged its feet on investigating the possibility that the city water system was contributing to an out- break of Legionnaires' Dis- ease. While others contrib- uted, "MDEQ caused this crisis to happen," the report said. "Moreover, when con- fronted with evidence of its failures, MDEQ responded publicly through formal communications with a de- gree of intransigence and belligerence that has no place in government." The report also faulted Snyder's office for relying on incorrect information from the DEQ and other agencies even as evidence grew that they were wrong, waiting until last October to sup- port returning Flint to the Detroit water system — a move that a member of the governor's executive staff had recommended a year earlier. Snyder, who attended a news conference at which the task force released its report, said: "My focus is re- ally saying there are a lot of excellent recommendations here and to stay focused on putting those in place." Inquiry: State 'fundamentally accountable' for crisis in Flint By Erica Werner The Associated Press WASHINGTON House Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday decried ugliness and divisiveness in Amer- ican politics, delivering a veiled but passionate rebuke to GOP front-runner Donald Trump and the nasty tone of the presidential race. "When passions flare, ug- liness is sometimes inevita- ble. But we shouldn't accept ugliness as the norm," Ryan told an invited audience of congressional interns on Capitol Hill. "If someone has a bad idea, we tell them why our idea is better. We don't in- sult them into agreeing with us," he said. "We don't resort to scar- ing you, we dare to inspire you." The Wisconsin Repub- lican never mentioned Trump's name or that of any other candidate, Republican or Democratic. But his tar- gets were clear in a some- times frightful campaign season that's featured in- sults, sucker punches and near-riots as often as sub- stantive policy debates. "We are slipping into be- ing a divisive country," he said. "If we're going to keep this beautiful American ex- periment going we're going to have to stay unified." Some of Ryan's comments nearly echoed remarks last week from President Barack Obama, who voiced dismay at the violence and "vulgar and divisive rhetoric" of this presidential race, and issued a plea for civility. Still, Democrats wasted no time in criticizing Ryan's speech, noting that while re- maining officially neutral in his party's presidential pri- mary, Ryan has repeatedly promised to back the even- tual GOP nominee. The speaker has also avoided any outright denunciation of Trump even while crit- icizing several of the busi- nessman's more extreme positions, such as barring Muslims from entering the country. "Speaker Ryan's words will ring hollow until he backs them up with action and withdraws his support from Donald Trump," said Adam Jentleson, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. Ryan's outwardly neutral stance comes even as other GOP leaders have openly searched for ways to pre- vent Trump from clinching the nomination before or during the party's July con- vention in Cleveland. Ryan, his party's 2012 vice presi- dential nominee, has said he is not interested in be- coming president and has dismissed growing talk of a contested convention that could turn into a free-for-all for the nomination. Yet Ryan similarly claimed he never wanted to become speaker. He ended up with the job anyway af- ter John Boehner, R-Ohio, was pushed out by conser- vatives last fall and a lead- ership vacuum resulted. As speaker of the House Ryan will have the job of chairing the GOP convention in July. Ryan took the opportu- nity Wednesday to voice re- grets about his own previ- ous contributions to divisive political discourse. He said that in the past he'd referred to certain people as "tak- ers," but then thought more about how people could be- come mired in poverty and dependent on government help. "To label a whole group of Americans that way was wrong," he said. He also said he had be- come a late convert to the need for reforming the criminal justice system and pledged action on the House floor."Redemptionisabeau- tiful thing," Ryan said. "We need to make redemption something that is valued in our culture and our society and in our laws." Ryan deliv- eredhisremarks aslawmak- ers left town for a two-week spring recess. He spoke in theloftyhearingroom ofthe Ways and Means Commit- tee, which he once chaired. It was the latest occa- sion since Ryan became speaker last October that he has summoned his party to unity, and delivered lofty pledges that the House of Representatives will be the vehicle for producing a bold governing vision for the GOP. POLITICS Ryan slams 'ugliness' in politics amid Donald Trump-driven chaos | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016 4 B