WAS COMING, CUTS TO THEIR
PENSION.
WHO IS AFFECTED AND WHAT THEY'RE
TRYING TO DO ABOUT IT.
Kim: THERE'S BEEN PLENTY OF
TIME FOR FINGERPOINTING IN THE
FLINT WATER CRISIS AS THIS
DISASTER CONTINUES TO UNFOLD.
IT SEEMED THAT GOVERNOR SNYDER
HAS BEEN A POPULAR TARGET.
OUR "DEFENDER" KEVIN DIETZ SAT
DOWN WITH THE GOVERNOR TO ASK
THE TOUGH QUESTIONS WE ALL WANT
ANSWERS TO.
KEVIN JOINS US NOW.
YOU ASKED HIM IF THIS WOULD
HAPPEN IN AN AFFLUENT COMMUNITY.
Kevin: WE GET THIS QUESTION
OVER AND OVER FROM VIEWERS.
THEY WONDER IF IT HAPPENED IN
FLINT BECAUSE IT WAS A POOR
COMMUNITY.
IF THE PEOPLE ARE WALKING OUT OF
THEIR MILLION DOLLAR HOMES IN
BIRMINGHAM, AND THERE ARE BROWN
JUGS OF WATER, WOULD YOU DO THE
SAME THING AS YOU DID IN FLINT?
IT'S NOT BECAUSE FLINT IS A
POOR COMMUNITY.
WE'VE DONE A LOT TO HELP THE
PEOPLE OF FLINT THAT I'M PROUD
OF, BUT WE NEED TO DO MORE.
WE BROUGHT VIOLENT CRIME DOWN BY
OVER 40-SOME PERCENT.
AND REMOVING THE MOST BLIGHT
AFTER DETROIT.
WE BROUGHT DENTAL CARE TO THE
KIDS OF FLINT.
HEALTHY MICHIGAN, IN TERMS OF
BRINGING MEDICAID EXPANSION
THERE, CASE WORKERS IN THE LOCAL
SCHOOLS TO HELP PEOPLE,
COMMUNITY VENTURES, AND HELPING
UNEMPLOYED AND EMPLOYED PEOPLE
IN FLINT GET WORK.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF INVESTMENTS
IN FLINT.
IT'S TERRIBLE TO SEE THIS HAPPEN
AND MUCH MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE
TO EVEN GET CAUGHT UP WITH THE
STEPS THAT HAVE GONE NEGATIVE
BECAUSE OF ALL THIS.
Kevin: I UNDERSTAND YOU'VE
DONE A LOT OF FLINT AND POOR
PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE STATE, BUT
IT'S THAT IMAGE OF RICH PEOPLE
COMING OUT WITH BROWN WATER
SAYING IT'S DIRTY, I'M TALKING
PRE-LEAD, YOU DON'T THINK IT
WOULD HAVE GONE ANY DIFFERENTLY?
I WORK HARD TO TAKE CARE OF
THE CITIZENS OF THE STATE.
Kevin: THE GOVERNOR NEVER
COMPLETELY ANSWERING THE
QUESTION BUT HE WANTS TO STAY
FOCUSED ON THE IMPORTANT ISSUES,
THE FIRST ONE MAKING SURE NERVE
FLINT HAS SAFE DRINKING WATER,
AND THE LONG-TERM PLAN TO MAKE
SURE THEY HAVE A SOLUTION THAT
WILL WORK.
KEVIN DIETZ, "DEFENDERS."
Carmen: I GUESS THE OTHER
QUESTION WOULD BE, WHY DIDN'T HE
REVERT FROM FLINT WATER TO THE
DETROIT WATER IMMEDIATELY BACK
IN OCTOBER OF 2014?
Kevin: PEOPLE WERE SCREAMING
FOR THEM TO SWITCH BACK TO THE
DETROIT WATER.
HE SAID HE TRUSTED HIS WATER
EXPERTS TELLING HIM IF THEY
SPENT A MILLION DOLLARS THEY
COULD CORRECT THE PROBLEM BY
TREATING TO IT GET RID OF THE
BROWN COLOR AND THE BAD SMELL.
WANT TO KEEP IT GOING.
I WANT TO BRING IN MY COLLEAGUE
LOCAL 4 "DEFENDER" KEVIN DIETZ.
AND YOU SAT DOWN WITH GOVERNOR
SNYDER, AND HE HAS BEEN PUTTING
A LOT OF THE BLAME ON THE DEQ,
BUT HE PUT THE PEOPLE IN THOSE
POSITIONS OF POWER, CORRECT?
Kevin: AND VIEWERS HAVE BEEN
ASKING QUESTIONS FOR US TO ASK
THE GOVERNOR AND WANT TO KNOW
WHY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ANYONE
TO GET SUSPENDED OR FIRED, IF
THAT'S WHO'S AT FAULT, AND WHY
DAN WYANT, HOW QUALIFIED WAS HE?
SO WE ASKED THE GOVERNOR.
WHAT COULD YOU TELL THE
PEOPLE OF FLINT YOU'RE
SPECIFICALLY SORRY FOR?
A NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS THAT
WORKED FOR ME MADE MISTAKES THAT
CONTRIBUTED TO NOT SEEING THE
CORROSIVE CONTROLS FOR THE
WATER.
AND WHEN PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES
THAT WORK FOR YOU, YOU'RE
RESPONSIBLE.
AND YOU HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING
RIGHT TO IMPROVE IT.
THE OTHER THING IS, THERE ARE
OPPORTUNITIES I WISH I COULD
HAVE DONE, FASTER AND BETTER, IN
RETROSPECT.
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH SOMETHING
LIKE THIS?
BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HARMED.
TRUST IN GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN
VIOLATED IN SOME FASHION
SO THIS IS AWFUL!
AND THE ONLY THING THAT'S WORSE
IS RECOGNIZING THAT PEOPLE OF
FLINT HAVE IT WORSE THAN HOW I
EVEN FEEL ABOUT IT.
THEY'RE HAVING TO ADDRESS THE
ISSUE OF NOT BEING ABLE TO JUST
TURN ON THEIR TAP AND USE THE
WATER.
Kevin: HE BLAMES THE WATER
EXPERTS TESTIFY EPA AND THE DEQ.
WE ASKED ABOUT NOW RESIGNED DAN
WYANT, THE MAN HE PUT IN CHARGE.
IS HE AN ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERT?
HE HAD A STRONG BACKGROUND IN
A LOT OF FIELDS AND HAD
EXPERIENCE IN AGRICULTURE AND
NATURAL RESOURCES AND ISSUES
LIKE THIS AND HE HAD DONE A LOT
OF GOOD THINGS.
AND AGAIN, DAN FOUND THE SAME
SORT OF ISSUES IN TERMS OF NOT
GETTING STRAIGHT ANSWERS FROM
PEOPLE.
Kevin: THE FIRST WARNING CAME
WAY BACK IN FEBRUARY OF 2015.
THAT WAS IGNORED FOR 8 MONTHS.
THE GOVERNOR SAID WHEN HE FOUND
OUT, HE DID AN INTERNAL
INVESTIGATION.
THAT INVESTIGATION TOOK THREE
MONTHS.
AT THAT TIME WHEN IT WAS
CONCLUDED, HE ASKED DAN WYANT TO
RESIGN AND SHORTLY AFTER THAT,
TWO EMPLOYEES AT THE MDEQ WERE
SUSPENDED WITHOUT PAY.
KEVIN DIETZ, "DEFENDERS."
Carmen: AND FOR ALL THE
BACKGROUND ON THE FLINT WATER
CRISIS AND OF COURSE THE NEWEST
DEVELOPMENTS AS THEY COME IN,
HEAD TO CLICKONDETROIT.COM.
YOU'LL FIND VIDEOS, TIME LINES