Michigan Officials Charged With Evidence Tampering In Flint Water Crisis
LANSING, Mich. (CBSNewYork/AP) —Two state regulators and a Flint employee are charged with evidence tampering and several other felony and misdemeanor counts related to the Michigan city's lead-tainted water crisis.
The charges will be filed Wednesday against a pair of state Department of Environmental Quality officials and a local water treatment plant supervisor, the officials told The Associated Press late Tuesday. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
Michael Prysby, a district engineer for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and Stephen Busch, who is a supervisor with the DEQ's Office of Drinking Water, are both charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy to tamper with evidence, tampering with evidence and violations of water treatment and monitoring laws.
Flint utilities administrator Michael Glasgow is charged with tampering with evidence for changing lead water-testing results and willful neglect of duty as a public servant.
The charges would be the first levied in a probe that's expected to broaden.
A spokesman for Attorney General Bill Schuette's office declined comment Tuesday night. Schuette and other investigators have scheduled a news conference Wednesday afternoon to make a "significant" announcement in the investigation.
For 18 months, the corrosive water from the Flint River seeped lead into the drinking water supply, and it is now blamed for elevated lead levels in some children's bloodstreams. Investigators revealed state officials knew about the problem and failed to do anything about, CBS News reported.
Issues in Flint sparked local concerns over the quality of water in New Jersey. Earlier this year, Newark schools shut off sinks and fountains at 30 facilities because of high lead counts in their water systems. Blood tests were also offered to 17,000 students at those schools for lead.
Testing showed elevated lead levels in some buildings for years. And the district has been addressing lead in the water since at least 2003.
An Associated Press review of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data showed 82 out of 2,800 public and private drinking water systems in New York state have had lead levels exceeding the federal action limit at least once since 2013.
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