Flint Lead Water Criminal Investigation Charged Biggest Officials To Date

UPDATE: Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 8:14 a.m. EDT:

International Business Times received a statement from Willey & Chamberlain, the law firm representing Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon.

"We are confident in our defense of Nick Lyon. The true facts simply do not support the prosecution’s claims. This case appears to be a misguided theory looking for facts that do not exist," the e-mailed statement said. "We absolutely and vehemently dispute the charges. They are baseless. We intend to provide a vigorous defense of Nick Lyon and we expect the court system to vindicate him entirely."

Original Story:

The criminal investigation into lead water contamination in Flint, Michigan, has resulted in charges against the highest officials yet in Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration.

Attorney General Bill Schuette charged Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office according to the Detroit Free Press. Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells was also charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer.

READ: The Next Flint? Lead Found in Water In East Chicago, Indiana

An outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease hit Flint and the surrounding area between June 2014 and October 2015 causing 12 deaths. The outbreak was linked to Flint switching its water supply in April 2014 from the City of Detroit’s system to the Flint River. The water wasn’t treated properly and started collecting lead from the old pipe systems. Flint is located in Genesee County and has a population of around 100,000.

Lyon was charged with being responsible for the death of Flint resident of Robert Skidmore, 85, in December 2015. Lyons is accused of failing to warn the public about the disease, according to the Free Press.

The manslaughter charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The misconduct charge can carry five. The misconduct charge accuses Lyon of stopping a study that could have identified the disease.

"Defendant Lyon was aware of Genesee County's Legionnaires' disease outbreak at least by Jan. 28, 2015 and did not notify the public until a year later," read the document charging Lyon. “(He) exhibited gross negligence when he failed to alert the public about the deadly outbreak and by taking steps to suppress information illustrating obvious and apparent harms that were likely to result in serious injury … (he) willfully disregarded the deadly nature of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak.”

Legionnaires’disease is an aggressive type of pneumonia caused by a bacteria known as legionella. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that there were about 6,000 cases of Legionnaires' disease in the U.S. in 2015 with about 10 percent of cases leading to death.

Soon after the water supply was switched, Flint residents began to complain about rashes and negative health benefits. The state of emergency wasn’t declared until over 500 days after the water was switched. The move from Detroit water to the Flint River was cost-saving measure.

READ: Cher Explains Her Decision To Quit Lifetime’s Movie ‘Flint’ After Approaching Producers

So far 13 people have been charged in connection with the Flint water crisis, for misconduct and other counts connected with the emergency.

Residents began drinking bottled water in 2016. Though the water has returned to more acceptable lead levels, residents are still instructed to drink bottled and boiled water until all lead pipes in Michigan have been replaced, which is estimated to be around 2020.