2 Flint emergency managers charged over tainted water

Attorney general: ‘Fixation on balance sheets cost lives.’

FLINT, MICH. — Michigan officials announced charges Tuesday against two former emergency managers who were appointed by the state to oversee this financially troubled city, the latest criminal charges to grow out of an investigation into Flint’s tainted water.

The emergency managers — Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose — were charged with false pretenses, conspiracy to commit false pretenses, misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty in office. Also charged with crimes Tuesday were two former Flint workers, Howard Croft and Daugherty Johnson, who are accused of false pretenses and conspiracy to commit false pretenses.

If convicted of all charges, Earley and Ambrose could face up to 46 years in prison, and Croft and Johnson could face up to 40 years in prison.

Officials in Flint showed “a fixation on finances and balance sheets,” said Bill Schuette, the state’s attorney general.

“This fixation has cost lives,” he said. “This is all about numbers over people, money over health.”

The contamination began after the city, which had been getting its water from Detroit, switched to the Flint River in 2014 to save money. Flint has struggled financially, and it was under the oversight of a state-appointed emergency manager when it made the decision to change water sources.

Officials failed to properly treat the new water with chemicals that would prevent materials from corroding and leaching metals like lead, and as months passed, officials discounted or overlooked a growing body of evidence that something was wrong with the water, emails and testimony has suggested.

For months, officials played down the reports of Flint residents, who said that their tap water had puzzling, murky colors and vile smells, and that they were feeling ill or suddenly suffering from rashes.

Emails show that some officials were aware of a possible connection between a set of Legionnaires’ cases and the new water supply at least 10 months before Gov. Rick Snyder issued a warning to residents about it. State officials have defended their response, and a spokeswoman for Snyder said the governor told the public as soon as he learned of the possible link.

Lead levels in Flint’s water have improved over the last year, officials say, as they have worked to solve the city’s problem.

But residents are still being advised not to drink tap water unless they have a water filter.

ZACH GIBSON / THE NEW YORK TIMES Darnell Earley, a former emergency manager in Flint, Mich., will face charges, officials said.