FLINT, Mich. — Hundreds of residents of Flint, Michigan, have filed a racketeering lawsuit targeting Gov. Rick Snyder and other state and local officials over lead contamination of the city’s drinking water.
The case was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Flint. It’s one of many suits arising from the decision to switch Flint from the Detroit water system to the Flint River in April 2014. It was considered a temporary move until Flint could join a new water authority that would pipe water from Lake Huron.
The new lawsuit accuses Snyder and others of hatching a “wrongful scheme” to raise money for the debt-ridden city. It says instead of seeking bankruptcy protection, officials had Flint stop buying clean, safe water from Detroit.
Snyder spokesman Ari Adler declined comment on the suit.
