FLINT, MI - Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said two engineering firms hired by the city "botched" their handling of Flint's water supply and helped lead to the city's water crisis.

Schuette made the statement Wednesday, June 22, as he announced a civil lawsuit against Veolia North American and Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, which were hired to conduct engineering studies on the city's water system.

"In Flint, Veolia and LAN were hired to do a job and failed miserably," Schuette said.

The case also names LAN's parent company, Leo A Daly.

Schuette's lawsuit accuses Veolia and LAN of professional negligence and public nuisance. Veolia is also accused of fraud.

Assistant Attorney General Noah Hall said the lawsuit seeks financial damages to help the state provide services, education, health care and infrastructure for the city and its residents.

Damages could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"They violated their legal duties and caused the Flint Water crisis to occur, continue and worsen," the complaint states. "As a result, the state of Michigan suffered damaged for past, ongoing, and future harm to public health, destruction of public property, and cost to public resources."

The firms have also been named in dozens of lawsuits filed by city residents over claims they failed to insist on necessary corrosion controls, which led to the city's water crisis.

LAN, a Houston-based firm, was hired by the city to prepare its water treatment plant to produce the city's drinking water supply after it was announced the city would stop using pre-treated Detroit water.

However, Schuette claims LAN "botched" the job by not requiring corrosion controls.

The firm received nearly $4 million from the city, which began an arrangement that started when the city agreed to pay LAN $1.3 million to study the feasibility and develop cost estimates for using its water plant as a primary water source.

LAN received an additional $900,000 contract from the city in 2015 to conduct jar testing of the new Lake Huron water source and managing construction activities at the plant in advance of connection to connecting to the Karegnondi Water Authority.

The firm issued a 20-page Operation Evaluation report in November 2014 to address the city water supply's compliance with federal and state regulations. However, attorneys representing the residents claimed the report failed to mention the impact of the corrosive water flowing through the city's pipes.

A second LAN report issued in August 2015 again failed to address the hazards of lead in the city's water supply.

Veolia was hired by the city in February 2015 to study the city's water quality issues after high levels of disinfectant byproducts cause the city to violate the Safe Drinking Water Act.

An interim report was issued in February and in its final March 2015 water quality report, Veolia stated it conducted an "160-hour assessment of the water treatment plant, distribution system, customer services and communication programs, and capital plans and annual budget." The final report claims that "a review of water quality records for the time period under our study indicates compliance with State and Federal water quality regulations."

The 12-page report recommended operational changes and improvements; changes in water treatment, procedures and chemical dosing; adjustments in how current technologies are being used; increased maintenance and capital spending; increasing training and improved customer communications.

Lawsuits against Veolia from residents claims the firm was dismissive of the lack of corrosion controls.

"The water system could add a polyphosphate to the water as a way to minimize the amount of discolored water," the Veolia report stated. "Polyphosphate addition will not make discolored water issues go away. The system has been experiencing a tremendous number of water line breaks the last two winters. Just last week there were more than 14 in one day. Any break, work on broken valves or hydrant flushing will change the flow of water and potentially cause temporary discoloration."

However, Schuette claims the same report recommended the addition of acid to Flint's water system, which further worsened the problems.

"Veolia made a bad situation worse," Schuette said.

Officials from Veolia and LAN could not be reached for immediate comment.

However, both companies have previously denied any wrongdoing connected to the city's water crisis.

"Veolia was hired by the City of Flint, Mich., for a one-time, one-month contract to conduct an analysis of the residual effects of the city's chlorination process in February 2015. Veolia's role involved no testing or sampling of water and was unrelated to the current lead issues reported in Flint," Veolia Communications Manager Paul Whitmore said in April. "The focus of Veolia's analysis, at Flint's direction, was the city's concerns about the levels of disinfection byproducts or Total Trihalomethanes/TTHMs, discoloration, and taste-and-odor issues related to the city's drinking water treatment process."

"Lead and copper testing were never included in the scope of work for Veolia," he added. "The City of Flint was conducting tests for lead and copper through another company. The results of the lead and copper tests were not complete during the time of our study."

LAN officials in March also said their work was limited in scope.

"We sympathize with those who may have been affected by the Flint water tragedy," a Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam spokesman said in a March statement. "But the fact remains that Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (LAN) was asked to provide a limited scope of engineering services to address specific components of the existing water treatment plant, not the overall water quality ..."

"The systems we provided services on are operating without issue, and it is clear that LAN provided these specific services in a responsible and appropriate manner in accordance with industry standards. Decisions concerning the optimization plan for corrosion control were made by the city and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and not by LAN."

The announcement of the civil action comes after Schuette announced in April that he was filing criminal charges against two state Department of Environmental Quality Employees and one city employee for their roles in the water crisis.

Flint employee Michael Glasgow and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality employees Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby were each charged with felonies.

Glasgow pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor in exchange for his agreement to cooperate with prosecutors.

The felony cases are still ongoing against Busch and Prysby.

Schuette on Wednesday emphasized that more criminal charges are expected as part of his agency's investigation.

The city began using the Flint River as its source of drinking water in April 2014, but failed to add the necessary corrosion control chemicals.

Lead began leaching from pipes and plumbing as the more-corrosive river water flowed through the system.

State officials were initially dismissive of citizens' concerns over the city's water quality, but eventually admitted there was a problem after a study from Hurley Medical Center pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha revealed elevated blood lead levels in some of the city's youngest residents.