Five Indicted for Involuntary Manslaughter in Flint Water Crisis

Last week the Michigan State Attorney General, Bill Schuette, announced charges for six state and local officials in connection to the Flint water crisis. Five people have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the case relating to deaths from Legionella, a type of bacteria commonly found in the environment that grows best in warm water, such as hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, potable water systems, and decorative fountains. When people are exposed to the bacteria, it can cause Legionellosis, a respiratory disease that can infect the lungs and cause pneumonia. Legionella cannot spread from one person to another person. 

The charges are the latest in the Attorney General's investigation that has lasted more than a year and seen 15 people facing 51 charges for various offenses relating to the Flint Michigan water crisis. Charged with involuntary manslaughter last week were:

• Nick Lyon, the Director of Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Mr. Lyon is charged with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office.
• Darnell Earley, the Flint emergency manager from September 2013-January 2015. Mr. Earley is charged with false pretenses and conspiracy, misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty.
• Howard Croft, former City of Flint public works superintendent is charged with involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy and false pretenses.
• Liane Shekter-Smith, the fired head of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Drinking Water Division is charged with involuntary manslaughter and previously with misconduct in office, and willful neglect of duty. 
• Stephen Busch, the Lansing district coordinator for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Previously, he had been charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, tampering with evidence, two counts of violation of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act. 

Others charged:

• Dr. Eden Wells, the state’s chief medical officer. Dr. Wells is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer. 
• Gerald Ambrose, the Flint emergency manger from January to April 2015. He is charged with false pretenses, conspiracy, misconduct in office and will neglect of duty.
• Daugherty Johnson the former Flints utilities administrator is charged with conspiracy and false pretenses.
• Adam Rosenthal a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality analyst is charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, tampering with evidence, and willful neglect of duty. 
• Patrick Cook a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality specialist is charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy and willful neglect of duty. 
• Nancy Peeler, the director of the DHHS program for maternal, infant and early childhood home visiting is charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy and willful neglect of duty. 
• Mike Prysby a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality drinking water offical is charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, tampering with evidence, two violations of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act.
• Robert Scott, the data manager for the DHHS Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy and willful neglect of duty.
• Corinne Miller, the former state epidemiologist was charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy and neglect of duty. She pleaded no contest to misdemeanor and agreed to cooperate with the investigation last fall on the understanding that the felony charges would be dropped. 
• Mike Glasgow, the City of Flint’s laboratory and water quality supervisor whas charged with two counts of tampering with evidence and willful neglect of office. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor and agreed to cooperate with the investigation last fall on the understanding that the felony charges would be dropped. 

This all began in 2013 when the Flint city council decided to join the Karegnondi Water Authority (KWA) as the City’s permanent water source in a cost saving measure as wholesale water rates from the old Detroit system kept rising. KWA would supply water to the members by building a new pipeline from Lake Huron. While waiting for KWA pipeline to be completed, the City of Flint planned to use the Flint River as a temporary alternative water source.

The use of the Flint River was approved by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in 2014. Here is where the problems began. Though the Flint Water Treatment staff, LAN engineering consultants and the DEQ understood that the Flint River would be subject to variations due to temperature changes, rain events and would have higher organic carbon levels than Lake Huron water and would be more difficulty to treat, they thought that Flint had the equipment (after a Water Treatment Plant upgrade) and the capacity to meet the demands of treating river water, after all, the Flint River had been the emergency backup water supply for the city. They were wrong.

Flint struggled to meet the Safe Drinking Water Act levels at the water treatment plant. The first problems were with of increased levels of trihalomethanes (disinfection by-products formed when chlorine reacts with organic matter in drinking water) next were increased levels of total coliform and fecal coliform bacteria levels. Just when they were convinced that the finished water from the plant was within Safe Drinking Water Act requirements, there began to appear problems at the tap. Lead levels became highly elevated.

Over the summers of 2014 and 2015 the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reported 87 cases of Legionnaires’ disease with 10 associated fatalities in Genesee County. Of the confirmed cases in 2014, the source of water at the primary residence was City of Flint water for 47% of cases. Health Department officials haven't definitely linked the water switch to the disease, but Mr. Schuette has come close to doing so in public statements and documents related to the criminal charges filed last week. Still, prosecutors likely have to prove a direct link of the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak to improperly treated Flint water and the negligence of state officials. Though the message is clear that regulators and state employees have duty to perform their jobs to protect the public health.