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Engineering Firm Blames Wayne County For Failed Jail Project

DETROIT (WWJ) -- The design and engineering firm responsible for the new Wayne County jail project is defending themselves after being sued by the county for massive cost overruns.

AECOM claimed that the county's officials and staff have wasted a great deal of money and time for more than a year.

According to court documents obtained by the Detroit Free Press, AECOM says the county is completely to blame due to revisions and a lack of decision-making which impacted the progress, schedule and potential costs of the project.

Wayne County Commissioners have to approve any new plan.

The jail being built on Gratiot at I-375 was halted in June 2013 because of concerns of construction cost over-runs.

The Wayne County Board of Commissioners made sure of a jail will not be built at the closed State Prison on Mound Road on Detroit's east side, as it passed a resolution by Chairman Gary Woronchak to close the door on that possibility on October 16.

Businessman Dan Gilbert has expressed interest in buying the Gratiot building to add to his downtown property portfolio.

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