Two men appointed by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to oversee the city of Flint, Mich., are now facing criminal charges in that city’s lead water crisis.
Darnell Earley and Jerry Ambrose both served as emergency managers in Flint. Emergency managers are an appointed position that has near-dictatorial powers to navigate municipalities and school districts through a crisis.
Earley and Ambrose were in charge of the city when the decision was made to switch water sources from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The Flint River’s water was so polluted and corrosive that it caused the lead pipes running to city homes to corrode into the water supply, sickening scores of people throughout the city of about 100,000.
According to the Flint Journal, Earley and Ambrose are facing charges of false pretenses, conspiracy to commit false pretenses, willful neglect of duty and misconduct in office. Both men are accused of allowing the Flint Water Plant to continue to operate despite evidence showing it was not safe to do so.
Two other people were also charged with crimes by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette on Tuesday: Howard Croft, former director of the city’s Department of Public Works, and Daughtery Johnson, a former utilities administrator in the city. A total of 13 people now face criminal charges for the Flint water crisis.
Earley has denied any wrongdoing in the water crisis, and has blamed Croft for telling him the water was safe, the Journal reported.
However, other city employees involved in the crisis have said edicts from Earley and other state officials in charge led directly to the crisis.
Emails released by the state show state environmental employees ignoring warnings from an Environmental Protection Agency employee about the water quality in Flint months before the crisis exploded. It’s alleged those bureaucrats were allowed to overlook the complaints because state officials were determined to use the Flint River as a water source as soon as possible.
