Ex-governor, 8 former Michigan officials charged in Flint water crisis

Nine former Michigan officials, including a former governor. Rick Snyder, was indicted Thursday for his role in the water crisis in Flint in a case, according to a prosecutor, “well, finally, finally, to hold people to account”.

Snyder, 62, and eight other people who worked under him face a host of charges stemming from a water supply change in 2014 that exposed Flint residents to dangerous levels of lead and disease legionaries.

“Let me start by saying that the water crisis in Flint is not a relic of the past,” Michigan Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud told reporters. “At this very moment, the people of Flint continue to suffer from the categorical failure of officials at all levels of government who have trampled on their trust and shirked their responsibilities for far too long.”

State Attorney General Dana Nessel has appointed Hammoud and Wayne County District Attorney Kym Worthy to investigate the case, dismissing earlier charges brought by his predecessor, Bill Schuette.

Nessel is a Democrat and Schuette, a Republican like Snyder, unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2016.

“This case has absolutely nothing to do with partisanship,” Worthy said. “It has to do with human decency, the complete abandonment of the people of Flint and finally, finally, the empowerment of the people.”

“Plain and simple,” she added, “this case is about justice, truth, responsibility, poisoned children, lives lost, broken families who are still not whole and just don’t give a damn about it. ‘humanity.”

Earlier Thursday, in a virtual appearance before Genesee County Judge Christopher Odette, Snyder pleaded not guilty to the two misdemeanors.

Odette set the bond at $ 10,000 and ordered Snyder not to travel outside Michigan until at least her next court date, set for Tuesday.

The former two-term governor spoke to the judge from a booth inside the county jail, where he wore a mask and sat next to his defense attorney, Brian Lennon.

Lennon called the case against Snyder “fragile” and said “this whole situation is confusing”.

“It would be a travesty to waste extra taxpayer money on these bogus misdemeanor charges,” he said in a statement.

Former Michigan health director Nick Lyon has been charged with manslaughter in the deaths of nine people with Legionnaires’ disease. He also pleaded not guilty on Thursday.

The other state officials charged were:

• Former Michigan medical director Dr Eden Wells has also been charged with nine counts of manslaughter, as well as two counts of misconduct in the office and one of willful neglect of duty.
• Richard Baird, who worked as a senior adviser to Governor Snyder, has been charged with perjury, misconduct in the line of duty, obstruction of justice and extortion.
• Jarrod Agen, Snyder’s former communications director, charged with perjury related to his testimony before state prosecutors.
• Darnell Earley, charged with two counts of misconduct in power due to his work as the state-appointed emergency manager in Flint.
• Another former emergency manager, Gerald Ambrose, has been charged with multiple counts of misconduct in power.
• Howard Croft, Flint’s former public works manager, charged with two counts of willful neglect of his duty.
• Nancy Peeler, formerly director of the early years section of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, has been charged with two counts of misconduct in office and one of willful neglect of duty.

Residents of the predominantly black town of Flint have struggled for years to recover as they relied on bottled water as their primary source of drinking water and the value of their properties has suffered.

Today, tests show Flint’s water is safe to drink, but many residents, skeptical of government officials, say they still don’t trust the city’s water.

The Snyder administration in 2014 switched Flint from the water system from Detroit to Flint River in an attempt to reduce costs. The move turned out to be disastrous, exposing Flint residents to lead contamination from untreated river water from the new supply.

Michigan agreed to a $ 600 million settlement in August in a class action lawsuit against Flint residents whose health has been affected, creating a fund from which residents can seek compensation.