France's Veolia sued for 'botching' work in Michigan water crisis

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

World | Wed Jun 22, 2016 12:43pm EDT

France's Veolia sued for 'botching' work in Michigan water crisis

DETROIT | BY BEN KLAYMAN

The Michigan attorney general on Wednesday sued French water company Veolia and a Texas firm for "botching" their roles in the city of Flint's drinking water crisis that exposed residents to dangerously high lead levels.

Attorney General Bill Schuette said at a news conference in Flint that the civil lawsuit was filed in Genesee County Circuit Court against Veolia Environnement SA (VIE.PA) and Houston-based engineering services firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (LAN).

The lawsuit charged Veolia with professional negligence and fraud that caused Flint's the lead poisoning to continue and worsen, and LAN with professional negligence.

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Veolia was hired in February 2015 by the city to address drinking water quality and produced at least one report and one public presentation stating the city's water was safe to drink, according to the lawsuit. The company knew its representations were false, the lawsuit stated.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-michigan-water-idUSKCN0Z81PD

[tonyt53]

1. Most engineering contracts have a clause called "Errors and Omissions". The suit won't stick.