Michigan Taxpayers On The Hook As Flint-Related Lawyer Fees Climb To $2.7 Million
LANSING (AP) - Michigan's outside legal fees related to the ongoing Flint lead-contaminated water crisis could climb as high as $2.7 million, Gov. Rick Snyder's office said Tuesday.
Snyder's office previously estimated its legal fees — to be paid with public money — at nearly $1 million in February, according to Snyder spokesman Ari Adler. Snyder's office now estimates it could rack up $1.2 million in legal costs on top of the cost of the attorney general's office signing a $1.5 million contract with Royal Oak attorney Todd Flood to act as special counsel in its investigation into whether laws were broken regarding Flint's lead-tainted water.
Adler said the governor's office has notified the State Administrative Board about the new cost estimate, though Snyder's office doesn't need the board's approval to proceed.
Snyder's office hired attorneys Eugene Driker and Brian Lennon to help with expected legal work, Adler said. Driker is assisting the state attorney general's office with its ongoing investigation. Snyder hired Lennon to help define search parameters and other work related to state documents requested through public records requests and the thousands of documents Snyder released voluntarily.
"The resources were needed to complete the work that has to be done, and needed to be done in a timely manner," Adler said. "We simply do not have the resources in the executive office, or even using the attorney general's office for assistance."
Flint's water crisis happened after it switched from the Detroit system to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure in 2014. Lead from aging pipes leached into the drinking water because it wasn't treated with anti-corrosion chemicals.
Common Cause Michigan and the Michigan Democratic Party Chair Brandon Dillon criticized the selection of Flood as special counsel in the attorney general's investigation because he donated to Snyder's campaign. Dillon also said in a statement that the projected legal fees are "beyond outrageous."
Andrea Bitely, a spokeswoman for the Michigan attorney general's office, defended Flood's contract and said the office "is running an independent, broad-based investigation team that will leave no stone unturned."
Bitely said the attorney general's investigation is "not connected in any way" to Snyder's administration and is not "subject to the monitoring of the administration."
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