"Whistle-Blower Del Toral Grew Tired Of EPA ‘Cesspool’"

"A previously unreleased U.S. Environmental Protection Agency email shows the agency’s Midwest whistle-blower pleaded with superiors to protect Flint residents from lead contamination and railed against their failure to do so.

In the June 2015 communication, Region 5’s Regulations Manager Miguel Del Toral — called a “hero” by the agency’s top official — described the EPA as “a cesspool” for officials’ reluctance to act on what he perceived as an obvious public health threat.

Del Toral even asked his superiors for permission to do additional water testing in Flint on his own dime to prove his assertions of widespread lead contamination.

In response to a Detroit News inquiry about the email on Monday, Del Toral apologized to colleagues for how he characterized the agency last year."

Jim Lynch reports for the Detroit News March 29, 2016.