FLINT, Mich. — When Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette in April announced charges against a few of the figures in the Flint water crisis, residents called for more officials to be arrested.
Schuette promised then it was only the beginning.
“No one is above the law, not on my watch,” he said.
Six current and former Michigan state employees were charged Friday in a widening criminal investigation into the Flint water crisis, according to a source close to the investigation.
Corinne Miller, Nancy Peeler and Robert Scott of the Department of Health and Human Services along with Leanne Shekter-Smith, Adam Rosenthal and Patrick Cook of the Department of Environmental Quality face charges ranging from willful neglect of duty to conspiracy for allegedly withholding information from the public about lead contamination of the city’s drinking water.
This is the second announcement of criminal charges in the case.
What is the crisis?
Two years ago, in a move to save money, the state switched Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River, a tributary notorious for its filth. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality failed to treat the corrosive water, which ate into the city’s iron and lead pipes, causing lead to leach into the drinking water.
Last year researchers and medical personnel discovered high levels of lead in Flint residents, especially children. Lead has been tied to a host of medical problems, especially in the nervous system.
It’s a massive public health crisis that has drawn national attention, and there’s plenty of blame to go around. Already one group of investigators has concluded that government at every single level failed Flint.
Who has been charged so far?
City employee Mike Glasgow and state employees Stephen Busch and Mike Prysby were charged in April.
Busch, a district water supervisor for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and Prysby, a district water engineer, each face six charges.
Accusations include misleading federal regulatory officials, manipulating water sampling and tampering with reports. Busch and Prisby have pleaded not guilty.
Glasgow reached a plea deal on other charges.
Has anyone agreed to work with prosecutors?
Glasgow.
In May, Glasgow gave a plea of no contest to willful neglect of duty, a misdemeanor, citing reasons of possible civil liability, according to his attorney, Robert Harrison. A felony charge of tampering with evidence was dropped.
Glasgow tampered with a 2015 report, “Lead and Copper Report and Consumer Notice of Lead Result,” and failed to perform his duties as a treatment plant operator, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office has said.
Glasgow told CNN that Busch and Prysby directed him to alter water quality reports and remove the highest lead levels.
What about the governor?
Gov. Rick Snyder has maintained he has done nothing wrong. Snyder, a Republican, has withstood calls to resign over the water disaster. Residents have called for him to be charged.
“Was it actually criminal? Or was it poor decision-making?” Snyder said in April. “And again, I’m not looking for vindication. This is about getting to the truth, getting to accountability.”
How is the water now?
The city switched back to the Lake Huron water supply in October. In January, the governor declared a state of emergency, one month after the city’s mayor did.
President Barack Obama visited Flint in May and spoke after a briefing from officials on response efforts to the lead poisoning. After the session, Obama took a sip from a glass of filtered Flint water, insisting that residents should feel safe if they also drank water that had been filtered.
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver spoke at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.
“The problems in Flint are not over,” she said. “The water is still not safe to drink or cook with from the tap. Our infrastructure is broken, leaking, and rusting away.”
On Flint’s website, the city advises residents to “continue using water filters and bottled water while long-term solutions are being developed.”
How many civil lawsuits are there?
More than 50 lawsuits have been filed since January. The state made the decision to switch the water source, but some lawsuits accuse the city of being complicit by not doing enough during the 18 months that residents received their drinking water from the Flint River.
In June, Schuette sued two companies that were assisting Flint with its water treatment process. The charges listed in the lawsuit include professional negligence, public nuisance and fraud.
Veolia, a French water company, called the suit “outrageous.”
“The allegations against Veolia are false, inaccurate, and unwarranted,” the company said in a written statement. “Sadly for the citizens of Flint and throughout Michigan, the lawsuit represents the latest attempt to deflect responsibility by government officials and representatives who caused and are responsible for this situation.”
Texas engineering services firm Lockwood, Andrews and Newman, or LAN, said it did the work it was supposed to do in “a responsible and responsible manner.”
“Decisions not to provide appropriate corrosion control, which may have resulted in a decline in water quality, were made by the city and the (Michigan Department of Environmental Quality), not by LAN,” the Texas company said.
