Genesee District Court Judge Tracy Collier-Nix looks on as Jeff Seipenko, Special Agent at State of Michigan Attorney General, speaks on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 at the Floyd J. McCree Courts & Human Services Center in Flint, Mich. Two state regulators and a Flint employee were charged Wednesday with evidence tampering and several other felony and misdemeanor counts related to the Michigan city’s lead-tainted water crisis.
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The two state water experts charged are Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby, both with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Mike Glasgow, who was the supervisor of the Flint treatment plant at the time, is accused of tampering with evidence for changing lead results in an official report and failing to do his job. Busch faces more than 15 years in jail and $40,000 in fines.
For the most part, Flint residents were not allowed inside Wednesday’s announcement on criminal charges and the residents FOX 2 spoke to, say it was nothing more than a distraction.
The charges include more than a dozen separate counts against two officials at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, as well as a Flint water quality supervisor. He was purportedly told by Busch and Prysby to alter the results on water quality as well as remove those samples with the highest lead levels. “We’ll go wherever the truth takes us in this case wherever the emails take us”, Schuette said, referencing the bushels of emails by state, county and city employees who made decisions about Flint water.
In 2014 the State of MI authorized Flint, then under a state-appointed emergency manager, to switch its water supply from the Detroit water system to the polluted Flint River.
“With respect to this investigation, I have not been questioned or interviewed at this point”, Snyder told reporters.
And it’s true that the three men charged, the first significant outcome of an investigation launched by state Attorney General Bill Schuette, fit the bill.
The charges generally reflect the findings of the independent Flint Water Advisory Task Force investigation, which was released last month and found the DEQ “failed in its fundamental responsibility to effectively enforce drinking water regulations”. “The system is definitely on its path to recovery”, Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech professor whose work helped bring Flint’s water crisis to light, said at the time.
“What happened here in Flint is a tragedy, and we will continue to investigate all information that comes our way”, said Schuette. “I guarantee it.” But what’s left unsaid who else might be charged or what direction the investigation will take next.
Glasgow said he never got a response, and his warning was apparently ignored by state officials.
While he has rejected repeated calls for his resignation, Snyder, a once promising Republican chief executive, has launched a flurry of legislative and funding initiatives to finance a complete overhaul of Flint’s aging water system.
Schuette also said the two MDEQ employees “misled federal and local authorities, regulatory officials, and failed to provide safe and clean water to families of Flint”.
In addition to misconduct in office, the charges laid out by Schuette Wednesday allege Busch tampered with evidence by “manipulating monitoring reports mandated by law”. They are going after the people who covered it up, but what about the people who carried it out?
24 Hour News 8 visited residences in DeWitt, Bath Township and Otisville, which is north of Flint, on Wednesday seeking comment from the three suspects, but no one answered the door at any of the homes. The main thing is they are trying to keep this quiet, especially on the federal level because the lead problem is everywhere. Is the governor ultimately responsible and will he face charges? “A handful of bureaucrats created a bad situation in Flint”, he said.
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In fact, investigators were asked repeatedly Wednesday whether they were investigating Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, R, or other top state officials.
