FLINT, MI — A report on how Flint’s water was contaminated and how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency responded isn’t expected to be completed until summer, a spokesman for the EPA Office of Inspector General says.
Jeffrey A. Lagda, a spokesman for the OIG, said in an email that the program evaluation is ongoing and the completion date is only an estimate.
His comment comes the day after U.S. Sens.
Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., asked the office for a status update on the report.
"The EPA OIG’s objective for this assignment is to examine the circumstances of, and the EPA’s response to, the contamination in the city of Flint’s community water system, including the EPA’s exercise of its oversight authority," Lagda’s statement says.
"EPA OIG audits and evaluations follow generally accepted government auditing standards.
The process typically takes many months to complete.
The OIG said in January 2016 that it would begin an investigation into the causes of the Flint water crisis and the agency’s role in allowing it to unfold.
In October 2016, the office issued a finding that criticized EPA’s Region 5 office, saying it should have issued an emergency order about the public health crisis in Flint seven months earlier than it did.
OIG is an independent office within EPA that performs audits, program evaluations and investigations of the agency.

It’s starting to look like a drought year for California farmers who depend on water from the federal government.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced Tuesday that most farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta who get water from the federal Central Valley Project will receive just 20 percent of their requested allocation this year.
The agency said it can’t yet provide an initial allocation figure for many Sacramento Valley water agencies because of the lack of rain and the legal requirement that plenty of water be kept in Shasta Lake, the largest reservoir in California, to protect endangered species of Chinook salmon.
Despite last winter’s record rainfall, Californians must "prepare for the potential of return to drought conditions," said Federico Barajas, deputy regional manager of the bureau.
The Sierra Nevada snowpack is just 20 percent of normal and most of the state has received rainfall levels that are well below average.
Last winter’s record Northern California rainfall filled most of the state’s reservoirs and will ensure that most of the irrigation districts and municipal agencies that belong to the CVP will get at least some water from the feds.
At the San Juan Water District in suburban Sacramento, for instance, the reservoir conditions provide a cushion against the uncertainty of not receiving an initial allocation.
The State Water Project has set an initial allocation of 20 percent for all of its farm and municipal customers.
The short-term weather forecast does offer some relief.
The National Weather Service said the Sierra is expected to get as much as 8 inches of new snow starting late Wednesday.