NINE CHARGED IN FLINT WATER CRISIS PROBE
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 humanmade 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, who was charged Wednesday and arraigned Thursday, is the biggest new name in the bunch, though his alleged crimes — two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty — are not as serious as others.
Snyder’s former health director, Nick Lyon, and exchief medical executive, Dr. Eden Wells, were charged Thursday 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.
Prosecutors charged former emergency manager Darnell 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. Flint Director of Public Works Howard Croft faces two misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty. Nancy Peeler, early childhood health section manager in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, faces two felony counts of misconduct in office.