The residents of Flint Michigan, Detroit’s sister city, have been drinking lead laced water for a few months. What happened is a cause of concern. How it happened is a tragedy. The blame game has entered the octagon. From what we know, the EPA (Environmental Pollution Agency) gave the green light to send the noxious fluid through the Flint’s corroded pipes. However, before this happened Flint was in the bankruptcy court; to save money they opted to exit the Detroit’s water supply and pump the polluted Flint River water through century old pipes, which by the way were known to be in need of immediate maintenance while awaiting the construction of a new pipeline bringing water from Lake Huron. The EPA turned a blind eye as officials ran afoul of EPA regulations. Remember Flint is just a figment of their former self, now a city of poor people, a 100,000 at last count, down from 200,000 four decades ago. Most of the middle class fled along with the jobs provided by the Big Three.

The Environmental Protection Agency director overseeing a region that includes Flint, Michigan, is stepping down after contaminated water in that city exposed residents to lead poisoning.

The EPA on Thursday also announced an emergency order requiring that the state and city “take a series of immediate steps to address the drinking water contamination in Flint.”

It said the city and state’s response to the crisis has been “inadequate to protect public health.”

The EPA’s emergency order comes nearly four months after advocacy groups petitioned the agency to step in.

In October, the National Resources Defense Council, the American Civil Liberties Union and local groups petitioned the EPA to use its emergency powers to secure safe water in Flint. In December, EPA responded that it would “defer action” until the city had the corrosiveness of its water under control.

“The failure to act on it was bizarre and unacceptable,” said Henry Henderson, director of the NRDC’s Midwest program. “This action today reflects different thinking.”