6 state employees criminally charged in Flint water crisis
FLINT — Six state employees were criminally charged this morning in district court in connection with
the Flint water crisis.
Charged are Michigan Department of Health and Human Services workers Nancy Peeler, Corinne Miller and Robert Scott, and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality employees Liane Shekter-Smith; Adam Rosenthal and Patrick Cook, according to testimony this morning in Flint’s district court.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and Todd Flood, the Royal Oak attorney heading the AG's investigation, discussed the charges at an 11:30 a.m. news conference at U-M Flint.
"Some people failed to act, others minimized harm done and
arrogantly chose to ignore data, some intentionally altered figures ... and covered up significant health risks," he said.
In April, Schuette announced felony charges against two Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials and one City of Flint official. At that time, he promised more criminal charges would be forthcoming.
The city employee, Mike Glasgow, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor and is cooperating with the investigation as other charges were dropped. The two DEQ employees, Stephen Busch and Mike Prysby, are awaiting preliminary examinations.
He later brought a civil lawsuit against engineering and consulting firms who had consulted on the Flint Water Treatment Plant.
The civil lawsuit, filed in Flint in Genesee County Circuit Court, accuses engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam and environmental consultant Veolia North America, plus related companies, of causing "the Flint Water Crisis to occur, continue and worsen." Both companies have denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the lawsuit.
Flint's drinking water became contaminated in lead in April 2014 after the city, while under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager, switched from treated water supplied from Detroit to raw water from the Flint River, which was treated at the Flint Water Treatment Plant.
DEQ officials have acknowledged a mistake in failing to require corrosion control chemicals to be added to the water. As a result, lead leached from pipes, joints and fixtures into Flint households and harmful lead levels spiked in Flint children.
