WARNING SIGNS ABOUT FLINT’S WATER IGNORED, STATE’S AG SAYS
Another six Michigan employees face charges in city’s contamination crisis
Six more Michigan state employees were charged with crimes Friday for their roles in the Flint water crisis because of negligence and arrogance, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said.
“Some people failed to act, others minimized harm done and arrogantly chose to ignore data, some intentionally altered figures ... and covered up significant health risks,” he said at a news conference Friday.
The result, Schuette said, “was water was poisoned.”
Charged Friday were three employees of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality: Liane Shekter Smith, Adam Rosenthal, and Patrick Cook, as well as three from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services: Nancy Peeler, Corinne Miller, Robert Scott.
The new charges bring to nine the number of people charged since Schuette began a criminal probe of the crisis, which has turned into a major public health threat.
A state- appointed emergency financial manager was running Flint in April 2014 when the city began using the Flint River to provide its drinking water after almost 50 years of receiving water supplied by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
The switch was intended to save money, but instead created a public health crisis that continues more than two years later. The more corrosive river water is blamed for leaching lead into the drinking water system, poisoning Flint residents.