EGLE Under Fire: Public Testimony Exposes Chaotic Permit Process and Transparency Issues in Michigan

The October 22, 2021, House Oversight Committee hearing exposed yet another scandal involving EGLE—this time, the agency’s failure to properly address the Benton Harbor water crisis. For years, residents have been left questioning whether their water is even safe to drink, while EGLE dodged accountability and downplayed the severity of the contamination.

During the hearing, then-Oversight Chair Steve Johnson grilled EGLE officials on why they repeatedly ignored warning signs, failed to act, and misled the public about the true extent of the crisis. EGLE officials offered vague, conflicting responses, refusing to take responsibility for years of inaction.

“Why did EGLE refuse to acknowledge the severity of the crisis? Why were reports so inconsistent? And why were warning signs dating back to at least 2014 ignored?” Johnson pressed.

EGLE claimed they had taken an “all hands on deck” approach, but the facts presented at the hearing told a very different story:

• City water reports dating back to 2014 already warned of a “moderately high” risk of contamination, yet EGLE failed to act.
• The night before a previous Oversight hearing, a 20-inch water main broke, leaving residents without any water at all—a crisis that could have been prevented with proper infrastructure management.
• EGLE’s Director, Liesl Eichler Clark, outright refused to answer directly when asked by Chair Johnson whether Benton Harbor’s water was safe to drink.

Benton Harbor Water Reports: Missing Data, Misleading Statements, and Political Deception

The lack of transparency surrounding Benton Harbor’s water contamination crisis mirrored EGLE’s broader failures in environmental oversight.

• 2014 city water reports already advised residents to flush their drinking water for 30 seconds to two minutes due to stagnation risks—an early sign of corrosion issues.
• 2019 and 2020 water reports were riddled with missing data, discrepancies, and copy-and-paste errors, indicating a lack of serious investigation into the issue.
• Eric Oswald, Director of the Drinking Water and Environmental Health Division, falsely claimed that 2018 was the first time Benton Harbor exceeded lead action levels—when evidence from past reports showed a growing contamination problem years earlier.

“This is a LIE,” our research confirmed.

By delaying action, manipulating reports, and refusing to acknowledge the severity of the crisis, EGLE effectively allowed children and families in Benton Harbor to be exposed to toxic water for years—just like in Flint.

The House Oversight hearing on October 22, 2021, confirmed what many already suspected: EGLE was failing in its mission to protect public health—and the people of Benton Harbor were the ones paying the price.