Attorney
General Bill Schuette announced Wednesday, the state is suing two water
engineering companies for allegedly allowing the Flint water crisis to not only
continue, but to worsen.
Mr.
Schuette filed a civil lawsuit against France’s water company Veolia for
fraud, professional negligence, and public nuisance; and filed another suit
against Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam (LAN) for professional negligence and
public nuisance. The suit is seeking damages potentially in the hundreds of
millions of dollars. The suit alleges both companies either knew or should have
known the city was not using corrosion control treatment, and instead the
companies recommended Flint double its dosage of ferric chloride, which
increased the corrosion.
Specifically,
Veolia was hired with the intention of taking a comprehensive look at the
city’s water system. After a 160-hour assessment, the company concluded the
water was safe and presented that information, which the suit argues was fraud.
LAN issued reports in 2014 and 2015 that said Flint was in compliance and took
no action to implement corrosion control. LAN instead recommended the city
flush its fire hydrants, which the suit alleges caused the residential water
tests to show low lead levels.
According
to Special Counsel Todd Flood, if damages were awarded in these suits, the
funds would go toward rebuilding the city of Flint.