WSU prof critical of Treasury, EMs in Flint

A Wayne State University law professor’s review of Flint’s water crisis accuses the Michigan Department of Treasury as well as the state’s emergency manager law of sparking events that led to more than two years of water issues and health concerns for city residents.

The actions of state officials, under the umbrella of powers granted by the emergency manager law, fit a pattern of structural racism, according to Peter Hammer, director of the university’s Damon J. Keith for Civil Rights.

In a 67-page document prepared for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, Hammer parses through the decision-making process that led to Flint joining the Karegnondi Water Authority and using the Flint River as an interim water supply. His findings paint a damning picture of both the system and the people who allowed those choices to be made.

“... The reaction of most thoughtful observers is that things just do not seem right when they study KWA’s role in Flint, particularly at a time of financial distress,” Hammer wrote. “... Sometimes, where there is smoke there is fire. Strategic racism in the approval of KWA, the decision to use the Flint River as an interim source of drinking water an the delayed enforcement response in light of the mounting crisis are deeply interconnected.”

With Flint under the control of an emergency manager appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder, a final decision on the feasibility of the city changing water source from Detroit’s system to the planned KWA fell to then-Treasurer Andy Dillon. In April 2013, he approved the plan to sign on to KWA — a call Hammer clearly sees as a mistake.

Dillon signed off on tying Flint’s water future with the new authority, instead of remaining with its historic partner, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department. But Hammer said Dillon and other state officials failed to determine where Flint would get the tens of millions of dollars needed for upgrades to the city’s water plant in order to properly treat water.

The move, Hammer said, was particularly vexing since remaining with DWSD would have allowed Flint more financing options to pay for treatment plant upgrades.

“It seems incredible that the project pushed by two (emergency managers) and approved by the Department of Treasury did not require these issues to be resolved before KWA approval was given,” Hammer wrote.

And in an interview with The Detroit News on Friday, Hammer added: “You can’t separate the decision to approve the project from the decision of how to finance it.”

Dillon, who left his post as treasurer six months after the KWA decision, takes issue with many of Hammer’s findings. On Friday, he said one of the rules he had in place at the time for Flint was not putting the city under greater financial stress.

“I was assured, and it was a condition of mine, that Flint would have no financial responsibility,” Dillon said. “My condition was that Flint can’t afford any construction risks ... I didn’t want them burdened with debt.”

He added his approval was merely for Flint to buy water from the KWA. It did not address use of the river as the source for the city’s drinking water. That choice, he noted, was made after he left office. Documents showed that decision was made by then Emergency Manager Ed Kurtz.

Flint ended its decades-long relationship with DWSD as a cost-saving move. By partnering with the planned KWA, Flint and Genesee County could bring water from Lake Huron, treat it, provide it to residents and, at some point, sell it to neighboring communities.

While waiting for construction on the KWA line and facilities to be completed, Genesee County continued to get its water from DWSD — now known as the Great Lakes Water Authority. Flint, however, opted to draw its water from the Flint River.

A failure by city and state officials overseeing Flint to add corrosion controls to the river water resulted in the lead contamination that has impacted residents for more than two years.

Hammer also charged Treasury officials with pushing for a special administrative consent order that would allow Flint to pursue financing for treatment plant upgrades without adding to its debt limit.

On Friday, Treasury released a statement on Hammer’s findings. “While we disagree with many of the facts and conclusions reached in Professor Hammer’s paper, our focus will remain on moving forward with the city, county, and state to do all we can to improve the lives of the residents of Flint.”

Hammer’s critique was particularly harsh of the emergency manager system.

“In essence,” Hammer wrote, “the governor and the Republican Legislature privileged its conservative set of emergency manager policies, with its embedded knowledge-and-power assumptions, over competing visions and ensured that its policy regime would govern events in Flint and elsewhere in Michigan. This unleashed a series of events, now well-known, relating to emergency management, democracy, municipal finance, lead and water.”

jlynch@detroitnews.com

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