Michigan Health Chief Back in Court over Flint Water Crisis
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s urban affairs adviser contradicted the governor again Wednesday about when Snyder first learned about a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in the Flint area.
Harvey Hollins told a judge last month that he told Snyder about the outbreak late in 2015. He was more specific Wednesday, telling the court he informed the governor by phone on Christmas Eve that year. He said Snyder wanted more information from the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Snyder maintains that he only learned of the outbreak shortly before he informed the public in mid-January of 2016.
Hollins’ testimony came during a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to warrant a trial for Nick Lyon, the head of the health department, who is charged with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office. He’s accused of keeping the public in the dark about the Legionnaires’ outbreak during the Flint water crisis, when water from the Flint River caused lead to leach from old pipes.
Defense attorneys have argued that any conflict between Hollins’ recollections and Snyder’s public statements is “political theater” and irrelevant to the case.
Hollins was the governor’s point man in Flint as the water crisis was peaking. He testified that no one from the health department expressed concern to him about illnesses related to legionella bacteria.
Nearly 100 Legionnaires’ cases, including 12 deaths, were detected in Genesee County while Flint was using the river in 2014-15. Legionnaires’ is a type of pneumonia caused by bacteria that thrive in warm water and infect the lungs.
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