FLINT — Two Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) officials pleaded no contest to misdemeanors Wednesday and agreed to testify against other defendants in the criminal cases arising from the Flint drinking water crisis.

Michael Prysby, 55, of Bath and Stephen Busch, 42, of DeWitt are the fifth and sixth defendants — out of 15 charged through the state Attorney General's Office — to enter pleas to criminal charges with connection to Flint.

All the pleas to date have been no contest pleas to misdemeanors with agreements to cooperate. No contest pleas are treated similarly to guilty pleas for sentencing purposes.

Todd Flood, the Flint prosecutor hired by the Attorney General's Office, said he was accepting the pleas because of "substantial assistance being given to move the ball down the field in the Flint water investigation."

Sentencing dates for Prysby and Busch are Jan. 23.

Prysby, a state drinking water official, pleaded no contest to one count under the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act, related to the issuance of permits for the Flint Water Treatment Plant and the start-up of the plant in April 2014, before it was ready to properly treat water from the Flint River and distribute it for human consumption.

Busch, the Lansing district coordinator for the DEQ’s Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, pleaded to a misdemeanor charge of causing a disturbance in a public building.

Mark Kriger, Busch's attorney, told the court that the charge relates to a January 2015 public meeting in Flint, attended by Busch and Prysby, at which Flint residents expressed concerns about their smelly and discolored drinking water.

"Because of Mr. Busch's failure to address those concerns adequately, the meeting became extremely boisterous, and in fact it had to be ended prematurely," Kriger told the judge.

As long as Prysby cooperates and follows the term of his probation, that charge and other, more serious charges against him are expected to be dismissed, Genesee District Judge David Goggins was told.

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Charges initially brought against Prysby included several felonies -- two counts of misconduct in office and one count each of conspiracy to tamper with evidence and tampering with evidence.

Flint Prosecutor Todd Flood told the court that Prysby is prepared to testify that the Flint Water Treatment Plant was never tested in connection with the Flint drinking water system before the plant was activated. Prysby agreed.

Prysby is also prepared to testify that there was something bogus about an administrative consent order that was tied to the water treatment plant and used to allow the heavily indebted City of Flint to issue bonds for the new Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline to Lake Huron, Flood told the judge. The administrative consent order, signed by DEQ officials, related to an emergency repair of a sludge lagoon that wasn't even being used by the Flint Water Treatment Plant, Flood told Goggins and Prysby agreed.

Flood said Prysby would also testify that the decision to operate the Flint Water Treatment Plant before it was ready to safely treat Flint River water for human consumption was ultimately made by state-appointed emergency managers. Prysby also agreed with that statement in court.

Two former Flint emergency managers — Gerald Ambrose and Darnell Earley — are among the 15 people charged in the case.

Busch, who faced charges similar to those Prysby faced, will also be placed on probation for one year and have his charges dismissed, based on cooperation, court was told. Goggins took Busch's plea under advisement, meaning no conviction has been registered against him.

Busch told the court he is prepared to testify he had a discussion with Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon — who is facing involuntary manslaughter and other charges — about legionella bacteria, prior to March 2015.

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.

In addition to lead contamination concerns, 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.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.