Three Michigan officials were officially charged with crimes Wednesday for the lead contamination of Flint’s water supply.
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The water emergency began in 2014 when Flint switched its water source from the Detroit water system to the Flint River as a cost saving measure. In September 2015, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) publicly acknowledged the problem for the first time, promising to take action in response to the higher-than-average lead levels seen in children’s blood.
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality District Engineer Mike Prysby, former supervisor of the MDEQ’s Lansing District Office Stephen Busch, and Flint Utilities Administrator Mike Glasgow were all charged.
Glasgow, 40, was charged with tampering with evidence by falsifying reports to state environmental officials, and willful neglect of duty, Schuette said.
Ari Adler, a spokesman for Snyder, said the governor had supported the probe “because the people of Flint and across MI are owed straight answers about how the Flint water crisis happened”. “…This is the biggest case in the history of the state of MI – I think history will bear me out when we’re done…”, he said. The city switched the water supply back to the Detroit Water system in mid-October, “but state officials said this week, the city’s drinking water is still not considered safe”, the Detroit News reports.
“These charges are only the beginning and there will be more to come, that I can guarantee”, Schuette said.
He said outrage over the Flint water mess has created a mood “where someone has to pay”.
Busch and Prysby pleaded not guilty and were released on bail. It’s also extremely rare, and could have repercussions in terms of how drinking water providers and regulators around the U.S.do their jobs.
The city has been under a state of emergency for more than four months, and people there are using filters and bottled water. “They look at me and they wonder if there’s any truth to this investigation…I told one of my friends, I said you might not believe in government or state. but believe in me”. The mistake allowed lead to leach from aging pipes and fixtures and contaminate tap water that reached some homes, businesses and schools. The charges are based on allegations the two manipulated water test results, misled federal and local authorities and agreed to hide the true test outcomes.
The governor has also vowed to drink filtered water from Flint for 30 days to prove it is safe. It detailed a widespread lack of responsibility and leadership behind the catastrophe, which exposed more than 95,000 residents in the beleaguered city -including about 9,000 children under age 6 – to water tainted with lead. The prosecution team is trying to uncover more about why the individuals expected to be charged Wednesday, as well as others still under investigation, may have acted the way they did and who may have instructed them to do so, according to one of the sources.
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The investigation involved more than 20 witness interviews since January.
