Former Michigan governor Rick Snyder and others in his government are expected to be accused of his role in the Flint water crisis, sources confirmed to CBS News. The ongoing crisis, which began in 2014, exposed residents of the mostly black community to high levels of lead and was also responsible for an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease.
Snyder, former health director Nick Lyon and other former officials are expected to face charges, although details have not been announced. Since 2014, at least 15 current and former or former state and municipal officials and employees have been indicted for the water crisis. Some of these charges had previously been dismissed, but the next charges are believed to stem from a more recent investigation initiated by Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s government.
“These are the first steps in the final process to ensure justice for our community,” Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley said of the news on Tuesday. “I commend Attorney General Dana Nessel and her team for their commitment to discovering the truth and fully investigating all possible criminal activities.”
A spokeswoman for the Michigan attorney general’s office told CBS News that she could not comment on an ongoing investigation, but added that investigators are “working diligently”.
In a statement, Snyder’s legal team said that the Michigan Attorney General’s Office of Special Advisers “refused to share information about these charges with us.”
“It is outrageous to think that any criminal charges would be brought against Governor Snyder,” said attorney Brian Lennon. “Any charges would be without merit.”
Chip Chamberlain, a lawyer representing Lyon, said any charges against his client would be “a farce of justice”.
“The original charges filed in June 2017 were politically motivated and without merit and, after two years of unsubstantiated claims and personal attacks, were dismissed,” said Chamberlain. “Furthermore, in a protracted federal dispute, the Attorney General successfully argued that Mr. Lyon was not responsible.”
Jamie White, who represents the former director of the Flint Department of Public Works, Howard Croft, confirmed to CBS News that they were told they expected charges, but received no information about the charges to come.
White insisted that his client did nothing wrong.
“Is Mr. Croft guilty of a crime? You know, it is not the role of this community to prove that he is innocent, although I believe he is,” White told CBS News. “The role of this community is to find out if he intentionally did something that caused harm to people in the city of Flint. And that is a laughable proposition.”
White noted that Croft was living in Flint with his family at the time of the crisis.
“Your children drank this water. Your grandchildren drank this water,” said White. “And he only managed to work with the information he had. The idea that, because he was the works manager for the city and therefore knew that the water was contaminated and did nothing about it, it is simply not supported by the facts. “
Representatives for Rich Baird, Snyder’s former aide, also confirmed that they should expect charges.
“At the moment, we have not been told what the charges are, or how they relate to his position in the government of former Michigan governor Rick Snyder,” said attorney Randall Levine in a statement.
The news comes years after several surveys were launched on the government’s role in crisis. Thousands of lawsuits were filed against the city and the state after a local medical center found that most children in the city had 50% more lead in their systems than their peers, a devastating number that can be traced directly to the source. Flint water.
The crisis began in 2014, when the city of Flint moved its source of treated water from Detroit to the Flint River in an effort to save money. The city did not treat the water properly, allowing large amounts of lead from old pipes to be pumped directly into Flint’s homes.
Residents were alarmed when brown, smelly water started pouring out of their taps. Flint officials said the water was safe, but a doctor estimates that more than 14,000 children in Flint were exposed to lead. Snyder only declared a state of emergency in January 2016, after federal officials announced their own investigation.
“Let me be frank, that was a government failure at all levels,” said Snyder during a Congressional hearing in 2016. “Local, state and federal officials – we all fail with Flint’s families.”
In August 2020, the state of Michigan announced a preliminary $ 600 million agreement for families affected by the water crisis. Although the money went to more than 10,000 active claims against the Michigan government, many residents of Flint felt that the money could not bring their security back.
Years later, many residents of Flint still do not trust their drinking water. Parents can still be seen buying bottled water per gallon, an expensive precaution that has only become more difficult since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s almost like we have PTSD with water because we don’t really drink it comfortably, like, do you know what I’m saying?” a resident of Flint told CBS News. “People really lost their lives because of that.”
According to Mayor Neeley, the replacement of domestic water lines is “almost complete”. Of the 26,750 lines that have been excavated, fewer than 500 have yet to be verified, Neeley said in a statement.
Adam Brewster and Adriana Diaz contributed to the report.