Criminal charges coming Wednesday in Flint water crisis
Source: Detroit Free Press
Criminal charges coming Wednesday in Flint water crisis
Paul Egan and Matthew Dolan, Detroit Free Press 9:11 p.m. EDT April 19, 2016
LANSING — Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette will announce criminal charges Wednesday in connection with his ongoing investigation of the Flint drinking water crisis, three sources familiar with the investigation told the Free Press Tuesday.
Officials believe the city got artificially low lead readings because they didn't test the homes most at risk — those with lead service lines or other features putting them at high risk for lead. Among those to be charged is a City of Flint official who signed a document saying the homes Flint used to test tap water under the federal Lead and Copper Rule all had lead service lines — a statement investigators allege was false.
Schuette is to announce felony and misdemeanor charges against at least two, and possibly as many as four people, according to two other sources familiar with the investigation. The investigation is ongoing and more charges are expected, sources said.
The charges, which will be brought against individuals connected with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the City of Flint, relate to the lead contamination of Flint's drinking water and not to the possible link between Flint River water and an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that is tied to the deaths of 12 death people, one of the sources said.
Schuette, a Republican who is widely expected to run for governor in 2018, opened an investigation in January, tapping former Detroit FBI director Andrew Arena and Royal Oak attorney Todd Flood to head the probe.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2016/04/19/criminal-charges-coming-wednesday-flint-water-crisis/83251574/