Michigan attorney general sues 2 companies over Flint water crisis: it was a “botched” job

Michigan’s attorney general is suing two companies for their involvement in the Flint water crisis.

In a news conference in Flint on Wednesday morning, Bill Schuette disclosed that his office has filed paperwork to bring negligence and public nuisance litigation against both Veolia, a French resource management firm, and Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, an engineering corporation based in Texas. Veolia will also face an additional charge of fraud.

"In Flint, Veolia and LAN were hired to do a job and failed miserably," Schuette told reporters. "They failed miserably in their job — basically botched it. [They] didn't stop the water in Flint from being poisoned. They made it worse, that's what they did."

As Vox’s Libby Nelson has explained, the origins of Flint’s water crisis lie in the city’s 2014 decision to switch water supplies. Burdened by bankruptcy and hoping to cut costs, the city started drawing water from the local Flint River in order to avoid purchasing from Detroit’s more expensive supply. However, the municipality failed to take proper corrosion control measures, and eventually the inadequately treated water began leaching lead from the city’s pipes.

According to Schuette, both Veolia and LAN played crucial roles in this lead-up to the environmental disaster:

In the summer of 2013, LAN was hired to operate and help operate the water treatment plant using Flint River. The switch from Lake Huron water to Flint River water occurred on April 25, 2014. ... LAN botched the job, failed to help operate the water treatment plant without any — let me repeat without any — corrosion control program. This meant that lead leached into the water that would go to your home."

As for Veolia, Schuette holds that the firm was hired to assess the condition of Flint’s water only to "misrepresent" that condition to city officials. In addition, Veolia allegedly recommended that Flint treat its water with ferric chloride, a corrosive acid that only further degraded the city’s pipes, causing more lead to enter the water supply. "Veolia made a bad situation worse," Schuette said.

Both Veolia and LAN vigorously deny any wrongdoing

In a statement released Wednesday, Veolia shifted the blame back to the state government, noting that the independent task force hired to investigate the situation did not mention the company in its report but rather focused on numerous state and city failures. Tim Coffey, a spokesperson for LAN, said that the attorney general had "blatantly mischaracterized" the corporation’s role.

LAN and Veolia are just the two most recent parties targeted by litigation in the aftermath of the crisis. Last month, Schuette’s office brought charges against two employees of the state Department of Environmental Quality and one employee of the city of Flint. In addition, the Detroit Free Press has reported that dozens of lawsuits are still pending. In total, cases related to the water crisis could cost taxpayers "millions."

It has been estimated that at least 8,000 children were exposed to lead as a result of the Flint water crisis. There is no biologically safe level of lead ingestion for children.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via