LANSING – Attorney General Bill Schuette wants to award another $2.6 million to the law firm handling the criminal investigation and prosecution arising from the Flint drinking water crisis, which would push total outside legal costs for the public health catastrophe above $25 million.
Schuette has brought criminal charges against 15 current or former state and City of Flint employees in connection with the lead contamination of Flint’s drinking water and at least a dozen deaths from Legionnaires’ disease that Schuette alleges resulted from the water contamination.
If approved, the new contract for Flood Law PLLC would push total outside state civil and criminal legal contracts arising from the water contamination above $25 million, with Schuette’s contracts accounting for about $7.8 million of that total.
Snyder has spent nearly all of a $3.5-million outside contract approved for his criminal defense fees and a $1.4 million contract approved for his civil defense, his office said last week.
Approved contracts for the Department of Environmental Quality total at least $8.5 million and contracts for the Department of Health and Human Services at least $3.3 million.
The state has also pledged to pay at least $300,000 to help pay for criminal defense fees for two former state-appointed emergency managers and could face additional legal costs related to current or former Flint employees.
State DEQ officials have acknowledged a mistake in not requiring the addition of corrosion control chemicals as part of the treatment process.
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