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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder speaks to the media regarding the status of the Flint water crisis, Jan. 27, 2016. Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

UPDATED: 3:24 p.m. EDT -- The criminal charges levied Wednesday against two Michigan state employees and one Flint city worker for their alleged roles in the lead contamination of the city's water supply "'raise what happened to a whole new level," Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said during a brief news conference. Snyder spoke hours after Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette held his own news conference announcing the charges and promising in part that "there will be more [charges] to come."

While Snyder called the criminal charges "troubling," he said he has not been questioned in the matter and maintained that he has committed no wrongdoing and shouldn't be held responsible for the city's ongoing water crisis.

Meanwhile, the three people charged Wednesday for their alleged criminal roles in the Flint water crisis were arraigned Wednesday. Stephen Busch, a former district supervisor for the Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, pleaded not guilty to his felony charges before a judge set a $10,000 personal recognizance bond for each of the three counts against him, according to a series of tweets from a Detroit News reporter. A probable cause hearing was set for May 4.

Mike Prysby, a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality official, entered separate pleas of not guilty for all six counts against him before the judge set the same personal recognizance bond of $10,000 for each count Prysby faces.

Information about an arraignment for Mike Glasgow, the suspended Flint city's laboratory and water quality supervisor, was not immediately available.

UPDATED: 1:15 p.m. EDT – The charges brought against two state employees and one city worker concerning the contamination of the water supply in Flint, Michigan were the first step of a lengthy investigation into how thousands of families drank were exposed to lead-contaminated water, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette vowed at a press conference Wednesday.

“These charges are only the beginning – and there will be more to come. This much I can assure you,” he said. The two state officials were charged with three separate felonies each, as well as several misdemeanors and they can face up to 13 years in prison for the felonies alone.

Stephen Busch was charged with three felonies, Mike Prysby with four, and both with multiple misdemeanors, and they can face 13 and 17 years in prison respectively for the felonies alone. Mike Glasgow faces one felony and one misdemeanor.

“They failed to discharge their duties; they failed. They failed in their responsibilities to protect the health and safety of families of Flint. They failed Michigan families,” Schuette said. “Indeed, they failed us all, and I don’t care where you live.”

Original story:

A Michigan judge on Wednesday announced felony and misdemeanor charges against three state and city officials for their involvement in the contamination of drinking water that has led to a public health crisis in the city of Flint, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The three individuals charged were Stephen Busch, a former district supervisor for the Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance; Mike Prysby, a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality official; and Mike Glasgow, the city's laboratory and water quality supervisor.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette was expected to detail the charges against the officials connected with the Flint water crisis later Wednesday. This marks the first time criminal charges have been brought against government officials in the disaster that has drawn national attention.

Genesee District Court Judge Tracy Collier-Nix found sufficient evidence to charge Glasgow with two counts, including willful neglect of office and tampering with evidence, Michigan Live reported. The evidence-tampering charge comes after officials believe Glasgow allegedly changed testing results to show there was less lead in the city than actually existed.

Prysby and Busch have been charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, tampering with evidence, a treatment violation of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act, and a monitoring violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

The three employees have not been arraigned and were not in court Wednesday morning, according to Michigan Live.

Schuette’s office has been conducting an investigation into how the Flint water crisis happened, and his office claims that Prysby and Busch misled Environmental Protection Agency regulators that Flint was using appropriate corrosion control when that was not the case, according to Michigan Live. Busch was suspended earlier this year pending the Flint investigation and his name appears on documents created when the Flint water crisis was unfolding after the city switched to using the Flint River for its drinking water in 2014.

Water Lead Level Comparison | FindTheData.org

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, who represents Flint, expressed support for the investigation on Wednesday.

“Justice in the Flint water crisis is important and I support any investigation, including at the state and federal level, that are led by the facts and seek to hold those responsible accountable. Today’s criminal charges are one step to bringing justice to Flint families who are the victims of this terrible tragedy,” Kildee said in a statement. “There are many forms of justice, and one of them is making it right for the people of Flint. More resources are needed right now for Flint families who continue to face this public health emergency. The state, having created this man-made crisis, needs to step up in a big way with more resources. In Congress, I, along with Michigan’s Senators, continue to pursue any way around Republican objections to a federal Flint aid package.”

Flint’s water became contaminated with lead in the spring of 2014 when the city switched its drinking water source from Lake Huron, which was treated by the Detroit water system, to the Flint River, treated at the Flint Water Treatment plant. The city was under state-appointed emergency management and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials have said they made an enormous mistake by failing to require the city to add anti-corrosion chemicals to its water treatment process.

The corrosive properties of the water caused lead from the city’s pipes to leach into people’s drinking water, which gave exposed many in the city to the damaging effects of lead poisoning.

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