The Latest on criminal charges filed in the Flint water investigation (all times local):
11:15 a.m.
Five people have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in Michigan in an investigation of Flint’s water crisis.
The charges are related to the death of an 85-year-old man who had Legionnaires’ disease. The five include Nick Lyon, head of the Michigan health department.
The others are people who were already facing charges in the state’s investigation of how Flint’s water system became poisoned with lead.
They are: Darnell Earley, who was Flint’s emergency manager when the city used the Flint River; Howard Croft, who ran Flint’s public works department; Liane Shekter Smith; and Stephen Busch. Shekter Smith and Busch were state environmental regulators.
9:10 a.m.
The head of the Michigan health department and the state’s chief medical officer are the latest to be charged in an investigation of Flint’s lead-contaminated water.
Dr. Eden Wells is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer. It isn’t immediately clear who will represent Wells and can speak on her behalf.
Nick Lyon, head of the Department of Health and Human Services, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and other crimes. He’s accused of failing to alert the public of a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak.
Flint didn’t treat its water to reduce corrosion in 2014-15, leading to the release of lead from old pipes.
Some experts have also linked the water to Legionnaires’ disease, a type of pneumonia caused by bacteria that thrive in warm water and infect the lungs.
8:40 a.m.
The head of the Michigan health department has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in Flint’s lead-tainted water crisis.
Nick Lyon is accused of failing to alert the public about an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area, which has been linked by some experts to poor water quality in 2014-15.
Charges were read Wednesday in a Flint court. Lyon is the highest-ranking official to be charged in the state attorney general’s investigation.
Flint began using water from the Flint River in 2014 but didn’t treat it to reduce corrosion. Lead from old plumbing leached into the water system.
Legionnaires’ is a type of pneumonia caused by bacteria that thrive in warm water and infect the lungs.
