By Ron Fonger
Flint -- Only a few court appearances (click here) remain for Flint water crisis defendants before the end of 2018, when a new attorney general takes office and the direction of the prosecutions could change.
Preliminary examinations for four current and former employees of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality resume Monday, Dec. 10, before Genesee District Court Judge Jennifer Manley.
Liane Shekter-Smith, Patrick Cook, Stephen Busch and Micheal Prysby face a variety of charges, all related to allegations of criminal wrongdoing during the water crisis.
Shekter-Smith, the only state government employee to lose her job for her actions during the water crisis, faces criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter, misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty....
October 5, 2018by Jake May
Kettering University (click here) professor Laura Sullivan testifies at the preliminary examination for four current and former employees of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 at Genesee District Court in downtown Flint.
What?
The Kettering University (click here) facilities staff proactively follows precise procedures to ensure the quality of the University’s water supply. These include safety procedures and independent testing of campus drinking water for general quality purposes. In 2015, amid concerns about the city of Flint’s water supply, Kettering University staff increased the frequency of its independent tests and began sharing those results publicly at kettering.edu/water. Kettering University’s water is safe to drink and no issues with contaminants have been detected....
...Kettering University was recognized by the Harvard University Kennedy School for Public Policy for its response to the water emergency....
I recognize that Kettering had their own concerns about the water on campus, but, what has that to do with the lead contamination in Flint?
I mean no disrespect to Dr. Sullivan, but, what is a mechanical engineer have to do with clean water and service pipes in Flint?
NORMALLY, I would expect to find a person with a degree and experience in biological sciences, agriculture, natural resource management, chemistry, or related disciplines. It is helpful to have an engineering background as a minor aspect of the qualifications employed in such assessments, but, a mechanical engineer isn't what I would call qualified to testify regarding the degree of negligence allowed by Snyder when he dismantled Flint's water supply.
I applaud Dr. Sullivan for taking all her initiatives to help Flint and she could add dimension to the facts surrounding this ecological disaster, but, I would not expect her to carry expert testimony regarding the water or the deaths and maiming of this poisoning in Flint. I think the proceedings are odd and quite frankly easily appealed for any conviction.
Dr. Laura Sullivan, (click here) professor of Mechanical Engineering at Kettering University, has been appointed to the Flint Water Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder.
Sullivan’s interdisciplinary role is to continue to build trust between local and state governments, stakeholders in Flint and citizens in the community. The task force is made up physicians, scientists, citizens and expert advisors and serves to advise the city of Flint on how to remedy the current water challenges in Flint.
“My role is to make sure the people of Flint understand that this time things are going to be different,” Sullivan said. “This time, there’s a voice for individuals in this community. I will help lead collaboration between all levels of government and the scientific community in order to achieve an optimal solution for Flint’s water issues.”
On January 6, 2016, the State of Michigan officially declared a State of Emergency due to elevated levels of lead found in sections of the Flint water supply.
Sullivan received her doctorate in Materials Engineering from the University of Texas - Arlington. She has served as a professor at Kettering since 1992. Sullivan is also the faculty advisor for Kettering’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders. In this role, she has helped develop and install filters to remove bacterial contamination in water supplies in the developing world....
