CHARGES HANDED DOWN FOR FLINT 5

Manslaughter alleged for Michigan officials

FLINT, Mich. — Five people, including the head of Michigan’s health department, were charged yesterday with involuntary manslaughter in an investigation of Flint’s leadcontaminated water, all blamed in the death of an 85-year-old man who had Legionnaires’ disease.

Nick Lyon is the highest-ranking member of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration to be snagged in a criminal investigation of how the city’s water system became poisoned after officials tapped the Flint River in 2014.

Lyon, 48, the director of the Health and Human Services Department, is accused of failing to alert the majority-black population about an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area, which has been linked by some experts to poor water quality in 2014-15.

An involuntary manslaughter conviction carries up to 15 years in prison.

“The health crisis in Flint has created a trust crisis for Michigan government, exposing a serious lack of confidence in leaders who accept responsibility and solve problems,” said state Attorney General Bill Schuette, who said his probe is moving to the trial phase and signaled that Snyder, who has apologized for his administration’s failures that led to and prolonged the crisis, may not be charged.

“We only file criminal charges when evidence of probable cause of a crime has been established,” he said. “And we’re not filing charges at this time.”

Lyon also is charged with misconduct in office for allegedly obstructing university researchers who are studying if the surge in cases was linked to the Flint River.

The others charged with involuntary manslaughter were already facing other charges. They are: Darnell Earley, who was Flint’s emergency manager when the city used the river; Howard Croft, who ran Flint’s public works department; Liane Shekter Smith; and Stephen Busch. Shekter Smith and Busch were state environmental regulators.

Prosecutors also brought charges yesterday against a sixth person — the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Eden Wells, 54, who is accused of obstruction of justice and lying to an investigator.

Flint began using water from the Flint River while under state emergency management, but did not treat it to reduce corrosion. Toxic lead from old plumbing leached into the water system, causing elevated levels in children and leaving residents to drink and bathe with bottled or filtered water.

There were nearly 100 cases in the Flint area, including 12 deaths, in 2014 and 2015.