In Plea Deal, Ex-Michigan Official Admits Silence in Flint Water Crisis
DETROIT (AP) — The former epidemiologist for Michigan acknowledged in a plea deal on Wednesday that she was aware of dozens of cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area around the time the city changed its water source, but that she did not report it to the general public.
The official, Corinne Miller, the former director of disease control and prevention at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, faced three charges stemming from the investigation into Flint’s lead-contaminated water crisis. She pleaded no contest on Wednesday to a misdemeanor of willful neglect of duty in exchange for prosecutors dropping felony misconduct and conspiracy charges.
A no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated that way for sentencing. Ms. Miller’s lawyer, Kristen Guinn, said Ms. Miller entered the plea because of potential civil actions.
Flint, a financially struggling city of 100,000 people, switched from Detroit’s water system to the Flint River to save money in 2014. But tests later showed that the river water was improperly treated and coursed through aging pipes and fixtures, releasing toxic lead.
The plea agreement states that Ms. Miller was aware of the Legionnaires’ cases in 2014, and reported to someone identified only as “Suspect 2” that the outbreak “was related to the switch in the water source” after compiling data about the illness in Genesee County, where Flint is. No explanation is given in the plea deal as to why the cases were not publicly reported.
A definitive connection between the corrosive river water and Legionnaires’ has not been made, but many experts believe it likely was the cause. At least 91 Legionnaires’ cases were detected in the Flint area in 2014 and 2015, including 12 deaths.
Legionnaires’ disease is a type of pneumonia caused by bacteria that thrive in warm water and infect the lungs. People can get sick if they inhale mist or vapor from contaminated water, but the bacteria do not spread from person to person. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized with the disease each year.
Another past city official, Michael Glasgow, the former utilities administrator, pleaded no contest to neglect in May as part of the investigation into the water crisis. A total of eight people have been charged.
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