FLINT, Mich. – Two of the five people charged in connection with an investigation of Flint’s lead-contaminated water were arraigned Thursday morning.
Nick Lyon, director of the Health and Human Services Department, and Dr. Eden Wells, the state’s chief medical officer, stood before a judge in Flint.
Lyon is accused of failing to alert the public about an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area, which has been linked by some experts to poor water quality in 2014-15. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter, misconduct in office for allegedly obstructing university researchers who are studying if the surge in cases was linked to the Flint River.
Wells is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to an investigator.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced the charges Wednesday against three other officials – Darnell Earley, who was Flint’s emergency manager when the city used the river; Howard Croft, who ran Flint’s public works department; Liane Shekter-Smith; and Stephen Busch. Shekter-Smith and Busch were state environmental regulators.
The charges stem from the 2015 death of a Flint resident Robert Skidmore.
READ: Flint man at center of tainted water death case lived there all his life
Flint was under state control when a decision was made in 2014 to switch from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River to save money. The river water was not properly treated to reduce corrosion which caused lead to leach from old pipes and fixtures into drinking water.
CHECK: Flint Water Crisis Page
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