Official takes deal, pledges to cooperate

Associated Press

LANSING, Mich.

A Flint municipal official struck a deal with prosecutors Wednesday, pledging cooperation in exchange for reduced charges as authorities continue investigating lead contamination of the impoverished Michigan city’s drinking water supply.

Utilities administrator Mike Glasgow entered a plea to one count of willful neglect of duty, a misdemeanor, in exchange for dismissal of a felony charge of tampering with evidence. The state attorney general’s office said the deal will take effect in one year if he keeps his promise to assist. Two officials with the state Department of Environmental Quality also have been charged.

Glasgow, 40, is one of three officials charged with criminal offenses in connection with the disaster. He oversaw day-to-day operations of the water plant when the city changed its water source from Detroit, which draws from Lake Huron, to the Flint River in April 2014. At the time, government operations in the city of nearly 100,000 were controlled by a state-appointed emergency manager.

Shortly before the switchover, Glasgow complained in an e-mail to a state official that things were moving too quickly and the water plant staff was not ready. Still, prosecutors said he failed to perform duties required of a certified water plant operator.