FLINT, MI-- A company that advised Flint on water treatment during its water crisis says the Michigan Department of Attorney General’s recent court filing is an attempt to shift the blame away from state and city officials.

One month after dismissing all criminal charges against city and state officials, Attorney General Dana Nessel filed new court briefs against Veolia North America; Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam; and related companies in Genesee Circuit Court.

Nessel alleges the companies, which were water consultants for Flint, were the “principal cause of the Flint water crisis.”

Veolia, which Flint hired in January 2015 to help the city address problems with high levels of total trihalomethanes in water, said the latest court filings are an “attempt to shift blame away from the state and local officials who failed the people of Flint.”

“As the Attorney General’s Office knows well, the responsibility for the harm alleged by city residents rests with the public officials who decided to change the water source in Flint,” said Carrie Griffiths, a senior spokesperson for Veolia.

The company claims it wasn’t involved with Flint until nine months after government officials decided to change Flint’s water source. Veolia’s involvement was a $40,000 short-term assignment focused on trihalomethane issues, Griffiths stated.

“Most of Veolia’s recommendations to (Flint), with whom Veolia had the contract, were rejected, including on corrosion control,” Griffiths said.

Nessel put assistant state attorney generals in charge of the civil complaint against LAN and Veolia in February, and on Friday, July 12, they filed responses to requests from the companies, which have asked Judge Richard Yuille to dismiss the complaints against them.

The companies have argued in their own filings that principal responsibility for the water crisis lies with the government entities and officials involved directly in the treatment of water and oversight of the Flint system.

Veolia states state and local official who were criminally charged in relation to the crisis were “well aware of potential lead issues in Flint.”

Nessel separated herself from the eight criminal cases that were pending against city and state officials, and Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud dismissed charges against those individuals in June.

“While the Attorney General’s filing argues that Veolia’s reliance on the now-dismissed criminal charges against those government officials is misplaced, their own office has stated publicly an intention to seek new charges against these very officials responsible for the crisis,” Griffiths stated.

Hammoud said then that the investigation and prosecution of those cases was so badly flawed that she had no choice but to dismiss the charges without prejudice -- meaning they could be refiled.

Court filings by the attorney general’s office seek to recover more than $350 million in damages the state says it suffered as a result of Flint’s water having been contaminated. Flint residents have filed their own civil lawsuits, seeking damages they suffered related to the water crisis.

Veolia believes the Attorney General’s recent filing highlight a “conflict of interest.”

“The (filing) not only constitutes an egregious perversion of the clear facts underlying the crisis, it also highlights the obvious conflict of interest in the Attorney General’s office in both prosecuting and defending the public officials responsible,” Griffiths stated.

The companies have asked Yuille to immediately dismiss the claims against them. The judge has not yet scheduled a hearing on their motions for summary disposition.