Michigan ex-governor, officials charged for role in Flint water crisis

The governor is facing charges of willful neglect of duty.

Flint's water was contaminated by dangerous levels of lead after state-appointed officials moved to switch the city's water supply to the Flint River in 2014 as a temporary cost-saving measure while a pipeline was being constructed to link to Lake Huron. The water went untreated for corrosion, however, leaving the 100,000 residents of Flint without safe running water.

Lead contamination is known to cause a variety of health problems including brain damage. Many houses used to have lead paint on their walls, a practice which was abandoned after the effects of lead came to be known. The contamination of Flint's water has also been linked with an outbreak of Legionnaire's disease, which killed 12 people in the city.

The disaster proved to be an international embarrassment for the state of Michigan after it was revealed in early 2016, nearly two years after the city had been contaminated. Snyder said at the time that all levels of government had failed Flint. Years later, the contamination has not been fixed.

Flint was once a major industrial city in Michigan, home to a powerful automotive sector. Deindustrialization in the late 20th century ravaged the city, as it did to many cities across the rust belt. Flint's population subsequently declined by half since it's population peaked at nearly 200,000 people in the 1960s.

Brian Lennon, Snyder's attorney, blasted the decision to prosecute the former governor, calling it "outrageous" and complaining that state prosecutors have refused to "share information about these charges with us."

"Rather than following the evidence to find the truth, the Office of Special Counsel appears to be targeting former Gov. Snyder in a political escapade," Lennon insisted.

Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges.