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State OKs $4M More To Defend Workers In Flint Water Cases

LANSING, Mich. (WWJ/AP) -The State Administrative Board approved the additional funds Tuesday as part of a plan to also extend contracts by one year for outside lawyers working on the cases. The amount allotted for the Department of Environmental Quality for the next fiscal year is now $8.5 million instead of $4.5 million.

[A Timeline Of The Flint Water Crisis]

The state has spent millions of dollars on Flint-related legal bills and Attorney General Bill Schuette's criminal investigation of lead contamination and a Legionnaires' disease outbreak.

In April of last year Schuette alleged Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby of the state Department of Environmental Quality and Flint utilities administrator Michael Glasgow knew that a lack of corrosion control in drinking water was a threat to public health and intentionally tampered with lead-level reports to cover up the fiasco.

It was an extraordinary step to haul mid-level public employees into court on such allegations, especially when the public's perception of corruption typically involves bribes or other favors. Gov. Rick Snyder has said his environmental regulators didn't use "common sense."

Schuette has filed charges against 15 current and former state and local officials to date. Numerous Flint residents have sued the state and others.

 

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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