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Michigan attorney general picks former prosecutor to lead Flint, Mich., water investigation

By Amy R. Connolly
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, seen here in 2011, named a former Flint-area county prosecutor to lead an investigation into the Flint water crisis. Photo by Aaron J. Baylis/CC
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, seen here in 2011, named a former Flint-area county prosecutor to lead an investigation into the Flint water crisis. Photo by Aaron J. Baylis/CC

DETROIT, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette named a former Flint-area county prosecutor to lead an investigation into a water crisis affecting the city.

Former Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Todd Flood will work with retired Detroit FBI Chief Andrew Arena to determine if state laws were broken when the city's drinking water source was switched in 2014, leading to contamination and health concerns.

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Schuette, fending off criticism from the Michigan Democratic Party that Flood contributed to the Republican governor's campaign, said there will be no favoritism in the investigation. The appointments will create an "iron-clad conflict wall" between the investigation and civil lawsuits, Schuette said.

"This investigation will be thorough, this investigation will be exhaustive, and this investigation will be independent," he said. "This investigation is about beginning the road back -- the road back to rebuild and to regain and to restore trust in government."

Flood spent 10 years as an assistant prosecutor on the homicide, drug house and trial units. He is now a private practice attorney. Records show Flood donated $3,000 to Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's gubernatorial campaigns in 2010 and 2014 and gave $1,200 to former Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2004-05.

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Flood defended his contributions and said he has a reputation for integrity.

"I don't have a bias or prejudice one way or the other," he said.

Meanwhile, NAACP President Cornell William Brooks was scheduled to meet with local and state leaders in Flint to discuss a plan of action later Tuesday.

Flint residents have been advised not to drink unfiltered tap water due to traces of led in the drinking supply.

Water quality testing have shown the city's system has been compromised by high levels of lead since April 2014, when the city first started getting water from the Flint River. Some information indicated that local residents had been drinking the contaminated water for up to a year -- even though city, county and state officials knew about the dangers.

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