Flint water probe charges former governor, others
Snyder faces two counts of willful neglect of duty
A new investigation of the Flint water disaster led to charges against nine people, including former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and key members of his administration, who are accused of various crimes in a calamitous plan that contaminated the community with lead and contributed to a fatal outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, authorities said Thursday.
Nearly seven years after the doomed decision to use the Flint River, pipes at more than 9,700 Flint homes have been replaced and water quality has greatly improved. But prosecutors said it’s not too late to pursue people responsible for one of the worst human-made environmental disasters in U.S. history.
It’s the second time that six of the nine people have faced charges; their previous cases were dropped in 2019 when a new prosecution team took over. Snyder is the biggest new name, though his alleged crimes are not as serious as others: two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty.
Snyder’s former health director, Nick Lyon, and ex-chief medical executive, Dr. Eden Wells, were charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2015 deaths of nine people with Legionnaires’. Authorities said they failed to alert the public about a regional spike in Legionnaires’ when the water system might have lacked enough chlorine to combat bacteria in the river water.
The charges stemmed from evidence presented to Judge David Newblatt, who served as a secret one-person grand jury. All nine defendants pleaded not guilty during a series of brief court appearances.
The indictment alleges that Snyder failed to check the “performance, condition and administration” of his appointees and protect Flint’s nearly 100,000 residents when he knew the threat.
Wearing a mask, Snyder, 62, said little during his hearing, which was conducted by video.
Snyder has acknowledged that his administration failed in Flint. But his attorney, Brian Lennon, said a criminal case against him was a “travesty.”
In 2014, a Snyder-appointed emergency manager, Darnell Earley, who was running the financially struggling, majority Black city, carried out a money-saving decision to use the Flint River for water while a pipeline from Lake Huron was under construction.
The corrosive water, however, wasn’t treated properly, a misstep that freed lead from old plumbing and into homes. Despite desperate pleas from residents, the Snyder administration took no significant action until a doctor publicly reported elevated lead levels in children about 18 months later.
The city resumed getting water from a Detroit regional system in October 2015, though bottled water and filters were distributed for months.
Authorities counted at least 90 cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Genesee County during the 2014-15 water switch, including 12 deaths.
Defense attorney Chip Chamberlain said Lyon, the former health director, relied on the advice of experts when following the Legionnaires’ spike and forming policy as head of a sprawling agency.
Steve Tramontin — a lawyer for Wells, an exmedical executive — called the allegations false and “unimaginable to anyone familiar with the level of dedication she has brought to her life’s work.”
Prosecutors charged Earley and another former Flint manager, Gerald Ambrose, with misconduct. Rich Baird, a friend and close adviser to Snyder, was charged with extortion, perjury and obstruction of justice. Jarrod Agen, who was Snyder’s chief of staff, was charged with perjury.
Attorney Charles Spies disputed the charge against Agen and said he cooperated “fully and truthfully” with investigators.