"The problems that led to Flint, Michigan's water crisis must not be repeated in other U.S. cities and states, the top U.S. environmental health official said on Monday.

"The situation has to change. We need a national conversation to make sure this never happens again," Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, told local government leaders at the National League of Cities Congressional City Conference.

The crisis in Flint, a predominantly black city of 100,000, was triggered when an emergency city manager installed by Governor Rick Snyder switched the city's water supply from Lake Huron to the nearby Flint River to save money."

David Shepardson reports for Reuters March 7, 2016. [2]