The Flint water crisis became a criminal case Wednesday when two state regulators and a city employee were charged with official misconduct, evidence-tampering and other offenses over the lead contamination that alarmed the country and brought cries of racism.
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The charges surround the alleged blatant misleading of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Genesee County Health Department officials during an investigation, authorization of a permit for a water plant that was known to be deficient in providing safe drinking water, a failure to require needed corrosion control chemicals, manipulation of monitoring and testing reports, and violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, among other violations.
Close to 100,000 residents of the poor, mostly black Flint, Michiganwere exposed to dangerously high levels of lead in their drinking water.
And we begin tonight with those criminal charges in Flint, Michigan. But action didn’t come until October 2015, when Gov. Rick Snyder (R) switched the city’s water back to Detroit and declared a state of emergency.
Special counsel Todd Flood, who was appointed by the state attorney general to investigate the Flint crisis, said he doesn’t believe Glasgow.
Two years ago, Flint Michigan switched its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River, just to save a buck on water bills. Attorney General Bill Schuette referred to the employees charged in the case as having failed the families of MI.
A federal judge in Detroit has dismissed a $150 million class-action lawsuit filed by Flint residents and one Flint business, suggesting the plaintiffs refile in a MI state court due to lack of jurisdiction.
While the crisis raised awareness of potentially contaminated water in United States, to some it also displayed the “limits in running a government as a business”, as University of California in San Diego political science professor Thad Kousser told The Christian Science Monitor earlier this year. Authorities who discover a Tier I contaminant have one day to notify those drinking the water. We’ve reported those lead particles can lead to sky high lead levels if they get into your water.
The indictments are part of a state investigation regarding an April 2014 switch of water sources in Flint.
Asked yesterday for her reaction to the charges brought against the three former city and state officials, Weaver said that while establishing accountability was important, “What we really need is financial assistance”.
So far, Stephen Busch and Mike Prysby have been charged with felonies including misconduct, tampering with evidence, and conspiracy.
Glasgow, a former laboratory and water quality supervisor who now serves as the city’s utilities administrator, is accused of tampering with a lead report.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), speaking at a separate press conference April 20, said she hoped the investigation would follow the facts to hold all individuals accountable.
Despite the charges, Flint residents are still calling on the attorney general for more government officials to be held responsible. Glasgow told CNN in March the records were not complete, and the sampling teams did not know which homes had lead pipes.
“These employees of the Department of Environmental Equality had a duty”, Schuette says. City infrastructure was damaged and the municipal water supply still remains unsafe to drink.
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. Coupling those charges with claims of tampering with evidence removes that sympathy and could make it more clearcut, Cox said. “This investigation is ongoing, it is broad, detailed and comprehensive”.
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These charges against Flint officials will set a precedent.
