In April 2014, Flint’s drinking water was contaminated with lead when the city switched its water supply from Detroit to the Flint River.
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“These individuals concealed the truth”, he said.
The state health department employees charged were Nancy Peeler, Corinne Miller, and Robert Scott. They’ve been charged with conspiracy, willful neglect of duty and misconduct in office. In the case of the latter department, Liane Shekter-Smith, Patrick Cook and Adam Rosenthal. He said they misled superiors regarding water plant certification and preparedness, as well as lead and copper rule compliance. In April, Schuette, who is overseeing the probe, filed charges against two other Department of Environmental Quality workers and a Flint water quality supervisor.
The charges stem from the state’s failure to follow proper treatment protocols after switching the city’s water source to the Flint River in 2014. After repeatedly assurances that the water was safe, the state eventually admitted an untold number of children had been poisoned for months. Rosenthal is accused of tampering with evidence to hide lead levels in water and Cook allegedly forwarded false information to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. No level of lead exposure is safe ― even at low doses, the heavy metal can cause a range of problems, most notably brain damage in small children. The people of Flint are.
Schuette said Peeler requested a report on blood level data for children in Flint, but the report was buried.
Residents are still being advised not to drink the tap water unless it is filtered as elevated lead levels continue to be detected around the city.
“Based upon the filing of the charges, the DEQ and MDHHS will each be suspending two current employees without pay until further review of the charges can be conducted”. There were high levels of a disinfectant chemical as well. The decision to switch the water systems was made by one single official, who only reported to Gov. Rick Snyder. Critics have questioned his impartiality and whether he would be willing to take down individuals connected to the governor’s administration. The other two officials still face multiple felony charges.
“You don’t start at the top”, Arena said.
A lawyer for Mrs Shekter Smith said that the charges came as a surprise, saying that investigators will be “really hard-pressed to find that she did anything wrong, and certainly nothing criminally wrong”. What happens all day?
The Flint Journal reports (http://bit.ly/2ajtAwQ ) a judge Friday authorized the charges filed by the office of Bill Schuette. In January, Schuette announced the appointment of a special counsel to help his office investigate whether laws were broken.
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“There are no targets”, Schuette said at the news conference. “Nope. Not on our watch”.
