FLINT, Mich.
(AP) -- Six current or former state employees were charged Friday
with misconduct and other crimes in the Flint water crisis, bringing to
nine the number of public officials facing prosecution over the lead
contamination that alarmed parents across the country.
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.
Shekter Smith, former head
of the state's drinking water office, appeared last month in a Detroit
courtroom so her lawyer could assert her constitutional right against
self-incrimination amid ongoing investigations. She hadn't yet been
charged but was reassigned after the water crisis came to light and her
firing was announced in February.
Shekter Smith's attorney, Brian Morley, said Friday that he was surprised she was charged.
"It's
disappointing. ... I think we're going to be really hard-pressed to
find that she did anything wrong, and certainly nothing criminally
wrong," he said.
The Associated Press left messages for Cook and Miller and could not find listed numbers for Rosenthal, Peeler and Scott.
Four of those charged Friday have been suspended without pay.
The
Environmental Quality and Health and Human Services departments said
two workers from each department are off the job for now. The two other
people charged Friday had either already retired or been fired.
Schuette
and Andy Arena, the lead investigator who once led Detroit's FBI
office, say nobody is off-limits from investigation or prosecution.
"You
don't start at the top," Arena said. "We're starting to work our way
up, and expanding our investigation. ... The scope of the investigation
is progressing exactly how it should be."
Gov.
Rick Snyder has apologized for regulatory failures, and the state
environmental agency has said it wasn't required to add an
anti-corrosion chemical until after a year of testing.
In
March, a state task force that investigated the Flint crisis concluded
that it was a "case of environmental injustice." The Michigan Civil
Rights Commission is holding public hearings on the matter.
Federal
experts now say filtered tap water is safe for everyone to drink in
Flint, though some doctors still are recommending bottled water for
pregnant women and children ages 5 and younger.
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