It has been reported that Susan Hedman volunteered to leave her post as head of the Midwest Regional office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But it may be that Dr. Hedman was pressured to leave by Agency higher-ups. There’s plenty to suggest she didn’t move as quickly, and as decisively as she should have to deal with the ongoing disaster in Flint, Michigan.
Just hours after Hedman’s resignation was announced, EPA headquarters issued an emergency order that will permit that agency to move aggressively to begin to resolve matters. Hedman had the authority to issue a similar order. But some months before, when she was petitioned to do so, she refused.
Many have suggested that race and class played a role. And there’s a case to be made that the situation in Flint continues to drag on - after almost two years - because the community’s population is mostly African-American, and disproportionately poor.
Recall that in August of 2014, Toledo, Ohio officials ordered a drinking water ban when Lake Erie algae toxins rose to dangerously high levels. About 500,000 residents in and around that city were impacted. National Guard troops were ordered in to distribute drinking water. Changing weather conditions caused toxin levels to dissipate, and the order was lifted after three days.
Just ten days after Toledo’s water crisis ended, Hedman called together officials from a variety of agencies, both federal and state. They discussed what had happened, and explored possibilities. Not even three months passed before Hedman returned to Ohio to announce an award of $7.5 million in new EPA funding to deal with the problem of algae toxins. And in March of 2015, she announced another award of $3.7 million. Her office also provided other federal agencies with $3.0 million to target harmful algae.
Hedman’s swift action was widely reported, and lauded by many - as it should have been. But it’s worth noting that about three-fourths of the people who live in Toledo and surrounding Lucas County are white, that the county’s median household income is 75% greater than Flint’s, and that its poverty rate is less than half.
Susan Hedman’s markedly different approach to dealing with the Flint calamity (especially her unwillingness to alert the public) has been harshly criticized. In a recent interview, she insisted that her low-key, behind the scenes effort to prod Michigan’s officials into action - as opposed to acting on her own - was her only option. “Communication about lead in drinking water and the health impacts associated with that, that’s the role of a state’s Department of Health and Human Services, the county health department, and the drinking water utility,” Hedman said.
But language in the emergency order that EPA has issued, raises questions about Hedman’s claims. That order specifically directs the State of Michigan, and the City of Flint to immediately disclose considerable amounts of detailed information to the public, and to regularly update those disclosures. Dr. Hedman acknowledged that her office first became aware of the problems in Flint in April of 2015. From that point on, it seems, she had the authority to order such public disclosures.
For now, the focus should be on the people of Flint, Michigan. It appears that most folks feel that way. But at some point, we’ll benefit by taking a long hard look back at what went wrong. And if it turns out that issues having to do with race and class did influence the behavior of some, and that as a result of such behavior others were harmed, that matter must certainly be addressed.