Flint water crisis hearings at Congress reveal failure of US government

The mayor, state regulator, governor and the US Environmental Protection Agency all blame each other for the lead-poisoned water in the Michigan city

Three bruising congressional hearings into the Flint water crisis, possibly the gravest US public health emergency since Hurricane Katrina, have produced plenty of bluster and finger-pointing, but also troubling suggestions that America's system of government is fundamentally broken.

A procession of elected officials, mayors, regulators and an emergency manager have appeared before the inquiry since February, to be berated over how a poverty-stricken city of 100,000 people was fed poisoned water for over a year before anyone started to heed warnings that all was not well. An estimated 8,000 Flint children risk growing up with learning and developmental problems due to the lead that leached into their drinking supply.