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Investigator: Workers changed reports, hid data in Flint water crisis

Investigator says state workers "buried" research indicating high lead levels in children's blood in Flint.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette speaks at a press conference the day before going before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of 'Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action,' on October 14, 2013 in Washington, DC.

A special investigator for the Michigan Attorney General's office said six state employees who were criminally charged today hid and manipulated data last summer that showed a change in drinking-water sources was poisoning people here.

Liane Shekter-Smith, Adam Rosenthal and Patrick Cook worked for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality; and Nancy Peeler, Corinne Miller and Robert Scott worked for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services last summer and are charged in the case filed this morning in Flint District court.

An investigation into emails revealed that DEQ employees were involved with altering reports that showed dangerously high levels of lead in the water after the source was changed to the Flint river in April 2014, said Special Agent Jeff Seipenko with the Michigan Attorney General's Office.

He appeared this morning before Flint District Judge Nathaniel C. Perry III, who authorized two to three criminal charges against each defendant.

The Health and Human Services employees "effectively buried" research indicating high lead levels in children's blood from July through September 2014 could be connected to the switch in water sources and needed further research, Seipenko said.

The epidemiologist researching the tests wasn't yet finished with her report when Peeler and Scott "worked together to produce a graph of elevated blood levels without applying any statistical method. Peeler, relying on this unscientific graph, drafted and sent (an) unfounded email to MDHHS management (that) inappropriately concluded that the switch of water sources was not the cause of elevated blood levels within the children," Seipenko said.

Peeler was manager of the Early Childhood Health section of MDHHS, and Scott is acting coordinator and data manager for the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention program at the MDHHS. Miller was director of the Bureau of Disease Control and Prevention at MDHHS, Seipenko said.

He said that Miller repeatedly told staff to take no action regarding the research and "effectively concealed" the findings.

At the Department of Environmental Quality, Smith, chief of the Drinking Water Municipal Division, "intentionally misled and took steps to conceal" that the water was unsafe, Seipenko said.

"This water was unsafe as evidenced by presence of e-Coli, several boil-water alerts, the excessive TTHM (total trihalomethanes, or organic chlorinated chemical compounds) levels and presence of lead," he said.

Rosenthal was an environmental quality analyst with the Office of Drinking Water Municipal Assistance at MDEQ, and Cook was a professional engineer in that office.

"In summer 2015, Rosenthal conspired with Cook and others to change lead and copper monitoring reports," concealing the fact that the drinking water was contaminated, Seipenko said.

Smith faces charges of misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty. Cook is charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy to engage in misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty. Rosenthal is charged with misconduct office, conspiracy to tamper with evidence or engage in misconduct in office, and tampering with evidence as a public officer engaged in a willful neglect of his duty.

Peeler, Miller and Scott are charged with misconduct in office, conspiracy to commit misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty.

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