Flint, Mich.
Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a total of 18 new charges against three employees from the Department of Environmental Quality — Liane Shekter Smith, Adam Rosenthal and Patrick Cook — and three from the Department of Health and Human Services — Nancy Peeler, Corinne Miller and Robert Scott. In addition to the misconduct in office charges, there were willful neglect of duty and various conspiracy counts.
“Each attempted to bury or cover up, downplay or hide info that contradicted their own narrative, their story … (that) there’s nothing wrong with Flint water, it’s perfectly safe to use. In essence, these individuals concealed the truth and they were criminally wrong to do so,” Schuette said at a news conference in the poor, predominantly black city of nearly 100,000 people 55 miles north of Detroit.
Under the leadership of a state-appointed emergency manager, officials in April 2014 began using the Flint River as Flint’s water supply to save money. State officials didn’t require that the river water be treated for corrosion, and lead from aging pipes and fixtures leached into Flint homes and businesses. The city remained on that water supply for 18 months, despite complaints from residents about its smell and color.
Elevated levels of the toxin were discovered in children. Lead contamination has been linked to learning disabilities and other problems.
The announcement Friday represented the second round of charges stemming from the water crisis. In January, Schuette announced the appointment of a special counsel to help his office investigate whether laws were broken. In April, two state regulators and a city employee were charged with official misconduct, evidence-tampering and other offenses.
In June, Schuette filed a lawsuit against two water engineering companies, saying their negligence caused and exacerbated Flint’s lead-tainted water crisis and demanding what could total hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.