"The health crisis in Flint has created a trust crisis in Michigan government, exposing a serious lack of confidence in leaders to accept responsibility and solve problems", said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.
Lyon is also accused of obstructing researchers studying if the rise in Legionnaires cases was linked to the Flint River.
Outbreaks of Legionnaires' disease in the Flint area following the water switch were tied to the deaths.
According to the charging documents, Lyon knew of the water contamination in January 2015, but waited a year to notify the public and took steps to suppress information. Involuntary manslaughter is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The city switched its water supply in 2014 without ensuring that water from the Flint River had been treated with anti-corrosive agents, as required by law.
"People in Flint have died as a result of the decisions made with those charged to protect the health and safety of those individuals", said Schuette. State officials failed to require the addition of corrosion inhibitors to the water, and, as a result, lead leached from pipes into the city's drinking water.
In response to the charges, Rep. Dan Kildee, who was born and raised in Flint and now represents the district that includes it, said he supports the investigation and its attempt to "hold everyone accountable who did this to Flint". Instead, someone who inhales water vapor with the bacteria in it could get the disease. Former Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley, who had previously been charged, also now faces involuntary manslaughter, along with three other lower-ranking officials, according to the attorney general's office.
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Earlier this year, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission issued a scathing 129-page report, attributing the water crisis to "deeply embedded institutional, systemic and historical racism", which ultimately led city officials to try to cut costs by switching the city's water source to the Flint River.
Michigan's ill-conceived attempt to cut the city of Flint's water bill ended up poisoning countless children with lead.
The New York Times reported 13 people face charges related to the crisis, but those counts are limited to misconduct in office and conspiracy to commit false pretenses.
Thousands of residents were also found to have drunk water poisoned with lead.
Governor Snyder responded to the charges that were filed today on social media. "Defendant Lyon willfully disregarded the deadly nature of the Legionnaires' Disease outbreak".
This ruling makes Lyon the most senior member of the state administration to be charged in the Flint probe.
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