US environment agency 'delayed emergency order' over lead-contaminated water

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had sufficient authority and information to issue an emergency order to protect Michigan residents from lead-contaminated water as early as June 2015 - seven months before it declared an emergency, a watchdog has found.

The crisis in Flint should have generated "a greater sense of urgency" at the agency to "intervene when the safety of drinking water is compromised," Inspector General Arthur Elkins said in an interim report.