Action, inaction and rhetoric linked to high lead-levels in the Flint, Mich., water supply reached a new peak in mid-March. State officials on March 21 unveiled a 75-point plan that, among other actions, aims to boost the contamination fix and toughen state drinking-water rules beyond federal mandates.
But Congress failed to approve a federal-aid package for Flint and other states with water emergencies before adjourning for recess, and public-sector and private participants in the city’s unfolding saga traded blame at heated Washington hearings.