Buy Photo Governor Rick Snyder addresses questions about a spike in a form of pneumonia in Genesee County. (Photo: Daniel Bethencourt Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo 
 
 Since Flint switched its water source to the Flint River, officials have seen a spike in the number of cases of a severe form of pneumonia, called Legionnaires' disease — but officials say they're still looking for the cause. 
 
 There have been 87 cases in Genesee County from June 2014 to November 2015 — and 10 of those cases resulted in death, said Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, or MDHHS. 
 
 That number is a jump from previous few years, when the county saw between 6 and 13 cases. It’s not clear how many were fatal. 
 
 While state officials said they couldn’t make a connection between the water and the spike in disease, a drinking water expert who studied Flint said the rise in cases was “dramatic,” and added there’s a “very strong likelihood” the river’s water played a role. 
 
 “I applaud the state for releasing this (report),” said Marc Edwards, who heads the Virginia Tech Research Team which was a key player in exposing lead contamination in the city's water. 
 
 Officials with the MDHHS say they noticed the spike in the fall of 2014. Months later, in April, MDHHS said they began interviewing residents who were affected. 
 
 That summer, Edwards and his team noticed that in some large buildings, which can have older plumbing systems, there were high levels of the bacteria that can cause the illness. 
 
 “Our hypothesis is that something about the Flint River and lack of corrosion control, plus big buildings, is creating these problems,” Edwards said Wednesday. 
 
 Though officials held a news conference Wednesday to alert the public about the spike, they made clear that there were no changes in recommendations for bathing or showering. Edwards also noted that the water is safe for residents to shower in. 
 
 “There’s every reason to believe (the spike) is something in the past,” he added. 
 
 Legionnaires' disease is a lung infection caused by Legionella, a type of bacteria that grows best in warm water. The bacteria usually enter the body from a person breathing it in, but it can't spread between people. The most vulnerable are those with weakened immune systems. 
 
 Gov. Rick Snyder said he learned of the disease cases only “a few days ago," and acknowledged during questioning that the increase in Legionnaires' disease “just adds to the disaster we are already facing.” 
 
 Flint’s water became contaminated with lead in 2014, once its supply source was switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River water, which was treated at the city water treatment plant. 
 
 The state downplayed and largely ignored the immediate complaints about the smell, color and taste. In October, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality acknowledged it had failed to ensure the necessary safeguards for corrosion. That failure resulted in lead leaching into the water. 
 
 Lead causes permanent brain damage in children and is linked to other health and behavior problems. 
 
 The crisis became even more apparent this month, when Snyder declared a state of emergency, and Michigan State Police joined others in distributing bottled water and water filters. The state has also urged all Flint parents with children younger than 6 to have their children’s blood tested for exposure to lead. 
 
 In response to Snyder’s announcement Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, demanded that national infectious disease specialists arrive in Flint “tomorrow” and added, “We need an investigation into the past outbreak so we know what happened, whether there is any ongoing threat, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” 
 
 Flint’s water is still unsafe to drink. Officials on Wednesday did not give a firm time estimate as to when the water might be drinkable once again, though Edwards noted that lead levels in a few homes have already gone down dramatically. 
 
 At the news conference on Wednesday, Snyder fielded questions about his administration’s handling of the crisis. He said that a good portion of the fault “could lie” with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and welcomed the federal investigation already under way. 
 
 “We’re taking every action within reason, and going beyond reason to address this,” he said. He also said, “This is something you wish that never happened, and let’s see that it never happens again in the state of Michigan.” 
 
 Contact Daniel Bethencourt: dbethencourt@freepress.com or 313-223-4531. Follow on Twitter at @_dbethencourt. 
 
 Fund established for Flint children 
 
 A fund has been established to address the short- and long-term needs of Flint children exposed to lead through contaminated drinking water, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint announced Monday. 
 
 “Our Flint children deserve every opportunity to be healthy and successful," said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the Hurley Medical Center pediatrician who helped expose the tragedy. "The creation of this Fund will further ensure that our children are afforded the resources and interventions to overcome this population-wide exposure to lead.” 
 
 Donations can be made online at www.flintkids.com 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://on.freep.com/1UPCf8i ||||| (CNN) Residents of Flint, Michigan, already reeling because of lead contamination in their drinking water, got more disturbing news on Wednesday. 
 
 Gov. Rick Snyder announced the number of cases of Legionnaires' disease has spiked in Genesee County in the two years since Flint switched its water supply from the Great Lakes to the Flint River. 
 
 But the increase cannot be directly attributed to the switch, said Nick Lyon, director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Not all the people who got Legionnaires' were exposed to Flint water, he said. 
 
 From June 2014 to November 2015, at least 87 county residents developed Legionnaires' disease, compared to between six and 13 cases in the four preceding years, Lyon said. Ten patients died, he said. 
 
 The water looked smelled and tasted funny 
 
 Health officials are not changing recommendations about how Flint residents should deal with the water crisis. They should keep drinking bottled water and use water filters, Snyder said. 
 
 Legionnaires' disease is a respiratory bacterial infection usually spread through mist that comes from a water source. It is not transmitted person to person. Symptoms of the disease include fever, chills and a cough. The CDC estimates 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized with Legionnaire's disease in the United States every year. 
 
 Flint, an economically depressed city of about 100,000 people, started getting its water from the Flint River about two years. It previously bought Lake Huron water through the city of Detroit. The state government made that change to cut costs. 
 
 Soon after the switch, the water started to look, smell and taste funny. People complained. 
 
 On January 5, Snyder declared a state of emergency for Genesee County as a result of the water crisis. 
 
 He apologized for the state's actions, but residents and officials are furious. The state denied the problem existed for months and failed to use anti-corrosive treatment on the river water, which might have reduced the iron. 
 
 'Flint residents are victims in this crisis' 
 
 "Flint needs more action and less talk from Governor Snyder," U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee said in a press release. "It is important to remember that this crisis was created by a state-appointed emergency financial manager, and it is the state's ultimate responsibility to act and make it right. Flint residents are the victims in this crisis, and they deserve a more urgent response equal to the gravity of this crisis." 
 
 Flint switched back to Detroit water in October. 
 
 "It will require more time and effort before the water is safe to drink again," the city of Flint website said . "Until that time, residents and water customers are urged to continue using water filters and bottled water." 
 
 Dr. Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech researcher who studied Flint water and found high levels of lead, said it would be almost impossible to make a definitive link between the water source and Legionnaires' disease. To do so, he said, would require matching the strain of Legionnaires' in someone's body to the strain in the water. 
 
 "What's clear is that there's an association, which means that the increase of the Legionnaires increased pretty dramatically," he said. "And there's a strong likelihood that it's related to the water supply. 
 
 "We'll never know for sure, but we did find very high levels in the time period when they were on the Flint River water." 
 
 Edwards said this might be the first case of Legionnaires' associated to lack of corrosion control. 
 
 "This is already a tragedy," he said. "It's a crisis of conscience in government. This could potentially just add to it. But they're being very forthcoming about it at this point. There are just so many places where you wish people had done things differently." 
 
 National Guard activated 
 
 Snyder activated the state National Guard on Wednesday to assist with the water crisis. 
 
 Seven guardsmen arrived in the town Wednesday, and up to 30 are expected by Friday, Snyder said in a news release. 
 
 They will help distribute bottled water and water filters at fire stations and other public buildings, he said. That will allow Red Cross volunteers to go door-to-door to hand out water, filters and testing kits. 
 
 FEMA announced that it approved Snyder's request for federal assistance, according to agency spokesman Rafael Lemaitre. The governor had asked FEMA to step in to coordinate with other federal agencies. ||||| Sarah Truesdail holds her five-year-old daughter, Gabriella Venegas, who screams as a health official pricks her finger with a needle for a free lead test on Monday, Feb. 8, 2016 in Flint, Mich. (Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP) 
 
 As a probe begins into the water crisis gripping Flint, Mich., a top investigator announced Tuesday that if officials are found to have been grossly negligent, they could face charges as serious as manslaughter. 
 
 “We’re here to investigate what possible crimes there are, anything [from] involuntary manslaughter or death that may have happened to some young person or old person because of this poisoning, to misconduct in office,” said Todd Flood, special counsel for the state attorney general’s office who is in charge of the investigation. “We take this very seriously.” 
 
 Since the city switched suppliers in April 2014, corrosive tap water has caused the level of lead in kids’ blood to soar and has sparked fears of permanent neurological damage. In some cases, the water has been so poisoned by lead that it qualified as “toxic waste.” 
 
 A spike in Legionnaires’ disease led to 10 deaths during the same time period, although it’s not clear whether the bacterial outbreak was linked to drinking the water, according to Mlive. 
 
 Outrage over those deaths and the possible long-term effects of lead poisoning hung over Tuesday’s news conference. Flood was brought in to lead the investigation last month because the Department of the Attorney General is defending Gov. Rick Snyder (R) and various state departments against lawsuits brought by Flint residents. 
 
 The water emergency in Flint, Mich., is two years in the making. Here are the people who've played a key role in the crisis. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post) 
 
 Flood described a number of possible outcomes of the investigation. He said it could turn out that the crisis was simply a result of “honest mistakes,” the Associated Press reported. 
 
 But it could also turn out that city, county or state officials were guilty of a “breach of duty” or “gross negligence,” exposing them to possible criminal or civil actions, he said. 
 
 Flood said that the severest possible charge, manslaughter, was “not far-fetched.” He compared charging officials with manslaughter over the water crisis to charging construction workers with the same crime for leaving open manholes unattended, resulting in death. 
 
 He said he could also pursue restitution against both private companies and governments on behalf of Flint residents affected by the water crisis, according to the Detroit News. 
 
 Flood’s team will consist of nine full-time investigators, including former state and Detroit police officers as well as Andrew Arena, former head of Detroit’s FBI office. 
 
 
 
 Bottles owned by Flint residents Jessica Owens and Tonya Williams, filled with water, sit on the table outside of city council chambers as Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder speaks during a news conference in Flint, Mich., Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. (Jake May/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP) 
 
 A separate federal investigation also has been launched and will include prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office in Detroit as well as the FBI, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General and the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, Reuters reported last week. 
 
 The two investigations will try to suss out who is to blame for Flint’s dangerous drinking water. 
 
 So far, state and federal officials have been trading blame, often along political party lines. 
 
 [Hope — and clean water — remains elusive for the people of Flint] 
 
 Last week, the EPA’s acting water chief, Joel Beauvais, told Congress that Michigan — under the leadership of Snyder — had ignored federal advice to treat Flint’s water for corrosive elements, which are believed to have eroded old lead pipes and contaminated drinking water. Beauvais also said the state delayed for months in telling the public about the health risks, according to the AP. 
 
 State officials shot back, however, claiming that the EPA did not act urgently enough, either. 
 
 Not even city officials are exempt from scorn. Although the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager when it switched from Detroit water to the highly corrosive Flint River, it was the Flint City Council that voted 7-1 on March 25, 2013 to end its contract with Detroit, a decision that opened the door for the later debacle, according to the Detroit Free Press. 
 
 Even then, though, Snyder’s office was heavily involved in the decision, the Free Press reported. The morning before the Flint City Council vote, the state’s Democratic treasurer called Snyder’s chief of staff to discuss “Flint water supply alternatives,” according to the Free Press. And the next morning, the treasurer held two more meetings regarding the switch. 
 
 Snyder, a tech venture capitalist elected in 2010 on promises to turn around the state’s floundering economy, has accepted some blame for the crisis. He has apologized — calling the crisis a “disaster” and his “Katrina” moment — and promised to fix it. He also has released his emails on the subject. 
 
 But Snyder also has claimed that his top aide’s concerns about Flint’s water were “blown off” by Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality, an agency under the direction of a man whom Snyder appointed. 
 
 
 
 Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, center and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church Deacon Omar Odette, meets with volunteers helping to load vehicles with bottled water, in Flint, Mich. (Carlos Osorio/AP) 
 
 As the state and federal investigations proceed behind closed doors, public records are beginning to shed more light on the crisis and who might be at fault. 
 
 Last week, for instance, a liberal group released records showing that Snyder’s office knew of the Legionnaires’ outbreak more than nine months before the governor announced the problem this January, according to the Free Press. 
 
 “More than 40 cases reported since last April,” wrote Brad Wurfel, then the director of communications for Michigan’s Deptartment of Environmental Quality, in an email to Snyder’s director for urban initiatives and DEQ Chief Dan Wyant, a Snyder appointee. “That’s a significant uptick. More than all the cases reported in the last five years or more combined.” 
 
 A health official in Genesee County, where Flint is located, was “putting up the flare” and had “made the leap formally in his e-mail that the uptick in cases is directly attributable to the river as a drinking water source,” Wurfel wrote. 
 
 Snyder’s office released a statement saying that the governor “was not briefed on this issue until January 2016” and pointing to passages in Wurfel’s email calling the link to the city’s water as “premature” and “beyond irresponsible.” 
 
 But Snyder’s critics pounced on the public documents. 
 
 [Flint’s water crisis reveals government failures at every level] 
 
 “For months the public has been asking Gov. Snyder what he knew and when he knew it regarding the Flint crisis and this e-mail shows that one of his top aides was aware nearly a year ago that county health officials were concerned that the switch to the Flint River could be potentially deadly,” said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, the group that obtained the email. 
 
 On Tuesday, the Free Press published its own investigation into thousands of other emails that suggest city and state officials were aware of the Legionnaires’ outbreak eight months before Snyder disclosed it and that those officials also withheld information about the problem from county health investigators. 
 
 “We are very concerned about this Legionnaires’ disease outbreak,” Laurel Garrison of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote an April 27 email to Genesee County health officials, the Free Press reported. “It’s very large, one of the largest we know of in the past decade, and community-wide, and in our opinion and experience it needs a comprehensive investigation.” 
 
 The CDC official added: “I know you’ve run into issues getting information you’ve requested from the city water authority and the MI Dept of Environmental Quality.” 
 
 Five weeks later, however, an official from the state’s Department of Health and Human Services emailed Genesee County health officials to lambast them for speaking to the CDC. 
 
 “Relative to communications around the investigation, I believe that CDC is in agreement that their involvement really should be at the request of the state, rather than the local health department,” Collins said, according to the Free Press. “To be clear, we do value the skills and resources of our CDC colleagues, but we also recognize that their involvement needs to have some structure,” and “I want to reinforce the necessity that investigation communications from the Genesee County Health Department need to be directed to staff at the MDHHS.” 
 
 By December, county health officials were so frustrated they accused the state of a “deliberate cover-up.” 
 
 
 
 The Flint River is shown on February 7, 2016 in Flint, Michigan. (Photo by Sarah Rice/Getty Images) 
 
 “The state is making clear they are not practicing ethical public health practice,” Tamara Brickey, the Genesee County Health Department’s public health division director, wrote in a Dec. 5, 2015 email to colleagues. “Now evidence is clearly pointing to a deliberate cover-up. … In my opinion, if we don’t act soon, we are going to become guilty by association.” 
 
 Whether any of these officials will be charged as a result of the two ongoing probes remains to be seen. 
 
 On Tuesday, state officials said they were taking Flint’s water crisis seriously. 
 
 “We’re not going to shortchange justice,” said Bill Schuette, the attorney general, sitting beside Flood, Arena and another investigator. “We’re not going to do justice on the cheap. We’re going to have a full and complete investigation, and where the truth goes, that’s where we’ll go.” 
 
 On Wednesday, Snyder will propose an additional $195 million in state spending to address the city’s emergency, including $25 million to replace lead-contaminated pipes, a spokesman told the AP. 
 
 The same day, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee will hold a hearing on Flint’s water crisis. 
 
 Snyder turned down an invitation to speak, according to CNN. 
 
 Correction: On March 25, 2013, the Flint City Council voted to end its contract with Detroit and authorize a new agreement, under which it would get the majority of its water from Lake Huron and a small amount from the Flint River, according to Mlive. It was only later that the Flint River became the main source for the city’s water. Also, it is the Department of the Attorney General, not Attorney General Bill Schuette himself, that is defending the governor and various state departments against lawsuits brought by Flint residents. 
 
 Read more about Flint’s water crisis: 
 
 [This is how toxic Flint’s water really is] 
 
 [Lawmakers wrestle with who is responsible for Flint water crisis] 
 
 [Clinton calls Flint water crisis ‘immoral’ in break from NH] ||||| Buy Photo Genesee County health official Jim Henry was among those calling for the Flint system to be tested as a Legionella source. He said the county lacked the expertise to do so. (Photo: Karen Bouffard / The Detroit News)Buy Photo 
 
 Flint — Sixteen months after it was identified as a likely source of a deadly Legionnaires’ outbreak, Flint’s water supply still hasn’t been tested for the Legionella bacteria. 
 
 None of five government agencies aware of the outbreak in Genesee County investigated the water system for Legionella despite concerns raised by the county’s Health Department over the water as early as October 2014. That was six months after the city left Detroit’s system and began drawing its water from the Flint River. 
 
 Experts say the lack of a water evaluation made it impossible to know if the city’s new water source contributed to the respiratory disease outbreak that sickened 87 people between May 2014 and November 2015, killing nine. And to date, no source for the bacteria has been determined. 
 
 In March 2015, the state Department of Environmental Quality considered taking samples from Flint’s water system to be tested for Legionella at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ laboratory. But neither agency followed through. 
 
 That same month, the Environmental Protection Agency also suggested city water should be tested for Legionella during an EPA meeting about the outbreak and expressed that opinion to the DEQ in an email reviewed by The Detroit News. Again, no testing was done. 
 
 Experts, including Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech professor whose research uncovered the problem of lead contamination in Flint water, argue the municipal water should have been tested for Legionella because the outbreak could be tied to changes in the water system. Genesee County Environmental Health Supervisor Jim Henry also called for such testing. Experts say had the source of the Legionella been confirmed as the water system, targeted chlorine treatments could have been applied to kill the bacteria. 
 
 “MDEQ should have done such testing, especially after they were alerted to Legionella problems by the Genesee County Health Department,” Edwards said. “Better yet, they should have allowed CDC to come in and do that testing for them.” 
 
 Besides the state’s DEQ and health department, the federal EPA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also confirm to The News they’ve done no water testing for Legionella in Flint. The Genesee County Health Department says it does not have the expertise to do so. 
 
 The reasons why Flint’s water supply wasn’t tested aren’t entirely clear, although the local, state and federal agencies now largely blame each other or claim that typical procedures don’t involve testing municipal water supplies. 
 
 State epidemiologist Shannon Johnson, in an October 2014 email to colleagues, wrote “the current hypothesis” was that “the source of the outbreak may be the Flint municipal water.” Johnson noted that county epidemiological mapping revealed most Legionnaires’ cases had occurred downstream of Flint’s municipal water plant, where chlorine and other bacteria-killing chemicals would be more diluted. 
 
 “I let (the county health department) know that we could assist with and facilitate environmental testing, whether it be through our lab or DEQ,” Johnson wrote. 
 
 Darren Lytle, acting chief of the Treatment Technology Evaluation Branch at the EPA in Cincinnati, also expressed concern that changes in Flint’s water system could be behind the outbreak during a meeting with federal colleagues on March 26, 2015, according to the meeting summary sent to the DEQ. 
 
 “Maybe this isn’t happening in people’s homes, but it is happening in the distribution system pipes,” Lytle suggested to fellow EPA staffers. “First we must find the source — is Legionella there? If Legionella is present, in the tanks/pipes then disturbance of changing the water quality and flushing could cause it to proliferate.” 
 
 At the same meeting, the EPA’s Miguel Del Toral added that extensive flushing then being done to address bacterial growth in stagnant water in parts of the system could also foster Legionella growth, according to meeting notes. 
 
 Lytle offered to take municipal water samples and test them for Legionella. He noted the EPA had tested for Legionella at two Ohio hospitals as part of a research study, so a lab was already set up for Legionella testing. 
 
 But the EPA never “received a request for assistance from the state, city or county” to get further involved, EPA spokeswoman Monica Lee told The News. 
 
 Asked why the DEQ didn’t test then for Legionella in Flint, spokeswoman Mel Brown said the state health department was “the lead agency to look into the matter.” 
 
 State had tests from patients 
 
 In materials sent in conjunction with Gov. Rick Snyder’s Jan. 13 press conference announcing the outbreak, Michigan health officials said it was impossible to know if the cases were connected to Flint city water because of a “lack of clinical isolates” — samples of Legionella collected from patients. 
 
 “There’s investigations still going on to try and make that determination,” Snyder said at that time when asked if the outbreak was linked to changes in Flint’s water system. “But from a scientific or medical point of view, I don’t believe that determination can be made today.” 
 
 The state laboratory, in fact, had 12 clinical isolates from Legionnaires’ patients in Flint, the state health department confirmed. Of those isolates, molecular typing was completed on the eight that tested positive for Legionella. 
 
 Investigators could then search for a DNA match in the environment. But since water samples were never were tested, there was nothing to compare the clinical isolates with. 
 
 State health officials point to CDC guidelines as their reason for not sampling or testing Flint’s water system, or any other environmental source, for that matter. Health department spokeswoman Jennifer Eisner noted the CDC advises against testing the municipal water system, focusing instead on testing buildings that epidemiological studies indicate are associated with the outbreak. 
 
 CDC spokesman Kristen Nordlund confirmed it “does not recommend routine testing of municipal water” for Legionella. 
 
 “Because Legionella can grow to high levels and are spread to people by water systems inside buildings, we need building owners and managers in Michigan and elsewhere to ensure that they have programs in place that will prevent growth and spread,” Nordlund added. 
 
 Michigan’s investigation was limited to results of epidemiological surveys of patients infected in each of two waves of the outbreak, the first from June 2014 through March 2015, and the second from May 2015 through November 2015. 
 
 Based on results of the first study, state health officials concluded that Flint’s McLaren Medical Center was most strongly “associated” with the outbreak. Health officials wouldn’t name hospitals studied in the second survey. McLaren hired University of Pittsburgh microbiologist Janet Stout, one of the nation’s top experts in Legionnaires’ disease, to assess the situation at the hospital. She recommended remediation. 
 
 Among the 12 Legionnaires isolates at the state laboratory, two were from McLaren, including one that tested positive for Legionella. Among a total of eight isolates that tested positive for the pathogen, one genetic match was found, between the McLaren isolate and one from Flint’s Hurley Medical Center. The other six did not match, indicating these were all different strains of Legionella bacteria. 
 
 Results from the isolates suggested a need for testing throughout the water system, according to Amy Pruden, part of a team of Virginia Tech researchers studying water problems in Flint. 
 
 “If they demonstrated that there were multiple strains infecting patients, then the bacteria likely originated from trace background levels at many locations in the distribution system or in building plumbing, where the water chemistry shift may have stimulated them to start growing,” Pruden said. 
 
 “Given that Legionnaires’ is now the leading cause of illness spread by tap water, there is a need to be more responsive to outbreaks and better track the sources and causes of infection.” 
 
 No fed help sought until ’16 
 
 According to Nordlund, the CDC was approached by Genesee County’s health department in February 2015 and the CDC “felt that a comprehensive investigation was warranted and offered to further assist Michigan by providing epidemiologic and laboratory support from Atlanta or in Michigan.” 
 
 But the state health department “felt that they had the skills and resources needed to perform the investigation themselves,” Nordlund said. 
 
 The state health department instead declared that the outbreak ended in March 2015, a finding released in June 2015, when more Legionnaires’ patients were being seen in area hospitals. 
 
 It wasn’t until last month that the state health department asked the CDC for on-the-ground assistance in Flint, when the outbreak was made public by Snyder — 20 months after it started. The CDC is focusing its investigation at the building level, rather than investigating the municipal water system. 
 
 “We felt we had enough capacity between our department and the Genesee County Health Department to conduct an investigation,” health department spokeswoman Angela Minicuci said. “We have never said that this is not related to the water. We have never discounted that theory.” 
 
 According to Eisner, the state health department also believed it was up to the Genesee County Health Department to test the water for Legionella, if the county wanted it tested. 
 
 The Genesee County Health Department feared the Legionella outbreak could be linked to changes in the municipal water system and alerted the state by October 2014. According to Henry, the county’s environmental health supervisor, county personnel didn’t have the expertise to test a municipal water system for Legionella, so they asked the state DEQ to investigate. 
 
 Then-DEQ spokesman Brad Wurfel scorned Henry’s suspicion of city water in a March 13, 2015, email to Harvey Hollins, director the state Office of Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives, and a top Snyder aide. Hollins has since been tapped to lead the state’s response in Flint. The memo was copied to then DEQ Director Dan Wyant. 
 
 “This is beyond irresponsible, given that this is his department that has failed to do the necessary traceback work to provide any conclusive evidence of where the outbreak is sourced,” Wurfel fumed. 
 
 “ ... Legionnaires is NOT among the 90 water contaminants screened in the Safe Drinking Water Act, but in the absence of action by county health, our staff are now considering taking samples from various points in the system and working with (the health department’s) lab to test for it, if for no other reason than to rule it out.” 
 
 According to Henry, the Genesee County Health Department was learning about the municipal water system on the fly. 
 
 Henry said the state has primacy over municipal water systems. Counties oversee Type 2 wells, serving more than 25 people, and private wells. Operators of Type 2 wells handle their own water testing. 
 
 “We typically don’t get involved with municipal water,” Henry said. “The water plant processes is something that we don’t know, I’ve only been learning about it because of this.” 
 
 County health officials didn’t have a map of the water system, and couldn’t get one from Flint’s Department of Public Works. Department of Public Works did not return numerous emails and calls from The News. 
 
 Initially, according to Henry, the city water department talked about testing for Legionella. To his knowledge, they didn’t follow through. 
 
 “It was the distribution system, the water main breaks, the brown water events, these are all red flags,” Henry said. “These were all indications that something is seriously going wrong — the boil water advisories, we have an uptick in Legionnaires’ disease — that was enough to look into (the water system) so we can prevent another case.” 
 
 kbouffard@detroitnews.com 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/1XLGHam ||||| Buy Photo Clockwise from upper left, Dr. Eden Wells, Nick Lyon, Darnell Earley and Howard Croft (Photo: Detroit Free Press, Michigan Attorney General)Buy Photo 
 
 FLINT — Attorney General Bill Schuette charged two high-ranking state health officials today in the fourth round of criminal charges in the Flint drinking water crisis. 
 
 He also said he will be adding new, serious felony charges against four defendants who were charged earlier in the investigation. 
 
 And Schuette said that while no charges currently are planned against Gov. Rick Snyder, his investigation continues, and "we have attempted to interview the governor," but "we were not successful." 
 
 Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon is charged with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office, both felonies. 
 
 More Flint water crisis coverage: 
 
 Michigan health director Nick Lyon, 4 others charged with involuntary manslaughter over Flint water 
 
 Flint water crisis: 5 officials face manslaughter charges 
 
 Criminal charges against top Michigan officials extremely rare 
 
 Watch: Manslaughter charges announced in Flint water crisis probe 
 
 Chief Medical Executive Dr. Eden Wells is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer. 
 
 Buy Photo Michigan Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon is charged with involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office, both felonies. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 And four defendants charged earlier -- former Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley, former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality drinking water chief Liane Shekter-Smith, DEQ drinking water official Stephen Busch, and former City of Flint Water Department manager Howard Croft -- each will faced additional charges of involuntary manslaughter. Schuette said. 
 
 All of the new charges are in connection with the Legionnaires' disease outbreak in the Flint area that led to 12 deaths after the city's water supply was switched to the Flint River in April 2014. 
 
 Read more Free Press coverage of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak: 
 
 Read the Free Press investigation from April 2016: Why were officials silent on Legionnaires' in Flint? 
 
 Here are all the victims of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Flint 
 
 Database: Search all of the Legionnaires' disease cases by county 
 
 Health department officials released a statement from Gov. Rick Snyder saying he stands behind Lyon and Wells, and that they would remain in their jobs pending trial. 
 
 Lyon, 49, of Marshall is accused of causing the death of Robert Skidmore on Dec. 13, 2015 by failing to alert the public about a foreseeable outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. It's a 15-year felony. 
 
 All of the other involuntary manslaughter charges also relate to the death of Skidmore, who was 85 at the time of his death. 
 
 Buy Photo Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells is charged with obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 "Defendant Lyon was aware of Genesee County's Legionnaires' disease outbreak at least by Jan. 28, 2015, and did not notify the public until a year later," the charging documents allege. 
 
 Lyon "exhibited gross negligence when he failed to alert the public about the deadly outbreak and by taking steps to suppress information illustrating obvious and apparent harms that were likely to result in serious injury." 
 
 According to the charging documents, Lyon "willfully disregarded the deadly nature of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak," later saying he "can't save everyone," and "everyone has to die of something." 
 
 Chip Chamberlain and Larry Williey, Lyon's Grand Rapids attorneys, sai: "We are confident in our defense of Nick Lyon," and "the true facts simply do not support the prosecution’s claims." they said the case "appears to be a misguided theory looking for facts that do not exist," and Schuette's news conferences are prejudical and include false statements. 
 
 "We absolutely and vehemently dispute the charges," the attorneys said. "They are baseless. We intend to provide a vigorous defense of Nick Lyon and we expect the court system to vindicate him entirely." 
 
 Schuette said that he's heard from many people frustrated and angry that he has not brought charges against Snyder, the state's Republican governor since 2011. But he said he's also heard from those who feel he's been too hard on the Snyder administration, and charges are only being filed when the evidence warrants them. 
 
 Tuesday's charges, while they do not end the investigation, mark the end of one phase of the investigation and "a significant milestone," he said. 
 
 Buy Photo Former Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley will face additional charges of involuntary manslaughter. (Photo: Jessica J. Trevino, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 Andrew Arena, Schuette's chief criminal investigator and the former FBI director in Detroit, said what he has found most shocking is that "people had information in their possession" about the Legionnaires' disease outbreak, "and just failed to act." 
 
 Charges were authorized Wednesday morning by 67th District Court Judge G. David Guinn, in Flint. 
 
 On the misconduct in office charge, a five-year felony, Lyon is accused of instructing an official to discontinue an analysis that would help determine the cause of the outbreak. 
 
 Related: 
 
 Wells, 54, of Ann Arbor is accused in connection with the obstruction of justice charge of providing false testimony to a special agent and threatening to withhold funding for the Flint Area Community Health and Environment Partnership if the partnership did not cease its investigation into the source of the outbreak. That's a five-year felony. 
 
 Wells also is charged with lying to a peace officer about the date she knew of the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease. That's a two-year misdemeanor. 
 
 "Dr. Wells vehemently denied the charges and the charges will be vigorously defended," Wells' lawyer, Jerold Lax told the Free Press in a statement. 
 
 Buy Photo Former City of Flint Water Department manager Howard Croft will face additional charges of involuntary manslaughter. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press) 
 
 According to the charging documents, Wells gave a statement to Schuette's investigators on April 12, 2016, pursuant to an agreement under which she would not be charged, provided she made no false statements. 
 
 Wells allegedly lied by saying she had no knowledge of the Legionnaires' disease outbreak until late September or early October of 2015, when in fact she knew about the outbreak in March 2015. 
 
 Watch our mini-documentary on the Flint water crisis, winner of a Michigan Emmy: 
 
 CLOSE The ongoing Flint water crisis has taken a toll on residents of this iconic Michigan city, who have been living with lead-tainted tap water for over two years. One Flint resident describes the experience as, “like being in war, but without violence.” 
 
 Wells was appointed chief medical executive in May 2015. She previously served as medical consultant to the department's Bureau of Epidemiology from 2004 to 2011. 
 
 There were 12 deaths linked to Legionnaires' disease during a 17-month period in 2014 and 2015 in the Flint area. Dozens more were sickened by the disease, a severe type of pneumonia. 
 
 In previous years, six to 13 cases were typically confirmed annually in the county. 
 
 So far, 15 current or former state or City of Flint officials have been charged, including two emergency managers who were appointed by the governor and reported to the state treasurer. 
 
 Flint Mayor Karen Weaver issued a statement that said "manslaughter is a serious charge," and "it’s good to see that state Attorney General Schuette and his team are taking this matter seriously by bringing such serious charges against those who they believe didn’t do enough to address this public health threat, or to alert the Flint community about it." 
 
 Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 after the city switched from treated Lake Huron water supplied from Detroit to raw water from the Flint River, which was treated at the Flint Water Treatment Plant. 
 
 Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials have acknowledged a mistake in failing to require corrosion-control chemicals be added to the more corrosive water. As a result, lead leached from pipes, joints and fixtures into Flint households. 
 
 Though lead levels in the water have come down significantly since the state acknowledged the contamination around Oct. 1, 2015, residents are still advised not to drink tap water without a filter. Many still rely on bottled water, which can be picked up free at distribution centers in Flint. 
 
 Five of the current or former state employees charged previously are from the DEQ. Three are from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). 
 
 DEQ drinking water official Stephen Busch will face additional charges of involuntary manslaughter. (Photo: Michigan Attorney General) 
 
 Outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease in the Flint area following the water switch were tied to the deaths. Officials haven't definitely linked the water switch to the disease, but Schuette and his investigators have come close to doing so in public statements and documents related to the criminal charges. 
 
 Lyon was told in September by state investigators that he was a focus of the investigation, Lyon's lawyer Willey of the Grand Rapids criminal defense firm Willey & Chamberlain told the Free Press in October. 
 
 "We haven't heard from them for months," Willey said late Tuesday. "I've received no notification ... that anything is in the offing." 
 
 Snyder named Lyon director of DHHS in April 2015 when he created a new agency that merged the former departments of community health and human services. 
 
 Previously, Lyon had served as health director beginning in September 2014, Before that, he was the agency's chief deputy director beginning in 2011. 
 
 Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. 
 
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– Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced a new development Wednesday in Flint's water crisis that "just adds to the disaster we are already facing": specifically, a marked increase in cases of Legionnaires' disease that could be linked to the area's tainted water, reports the Detroit Free Press. From June 2014 to November 2015, there were 87 cases in Genesee County, 10 of them fatal, per the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. In the previous four years, Legionnaires' cases ran from six per year to 13, CNN notes. And while the MDHHS isn't able to definitively tie the spike to Flint's water, it's taking the news seriously, and a drinking water expert who's been studying Flint's water tells the Free Press there's a "very strong likelihood" that it played a role. MDHHS officials first observed the rise in Legionnaires' cases in the fall of 2014, per the Free Press, and researchers found the bacteria to blame was proliferating in larger buildings, many with older plumbing. "Our hypothesis is that something about the Flint River and lack of corrosion control, plus big buildings, is creating these problems," Marc Edwards, head of an independent Virginia team looking into the crisis, tells the Free Press. Speaking Wednesday, Snyder said he learned of the issue just "a few days ago" and appeared to place some blame on the state's Department of Environmental Quality, the paper notes. "We're taking every action within reason, and going beyond reason to address this," he said. State health officials say it's OK for residents to shower and bathe, though they still can't drink the water. Edwards' team agrees, though he laments how it's all been handled. "It's a crisis of conscience in government," he tells CNN. "There are just so many places where you wish people had done things differently."