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Brian McKinney, founder of Gayanga Co., the Detroit-based contractor at the center of a scandal over the use of contaminated dirt to fill demolition sites, wrote in an email Thursday that he's closed the business and is filing a defamation lawsuit against a city agency, Crain's Detroit Business reports.
“After privately defending ourselves for the past year while our company and reputation were publicly attacked, we believe it is finally time to seek answers through the courts,” McKinney wrote in his email to supporters, partners and friends, according to Crain's. He said he is suing the Detroit Office of Inspector General and Kamau Marable, who heads it.
Last September, the Inspector General suspended Gayanga from doing business with the city, and the city council subsequently upheld the suspension pending the outcome of an investigation into the toxic soil scandal. The IG found contaminated dirt at 42 of 47 tested sites where Gayanga filled in demolitions.
The FBI is investigating the scandal involving toxic dirt that was supposedly hauled from the Northland redevelopment site in Southfield, according to the Detroit Free Press.
It's unclear how wide-sweeping the FBI probe is or how much, if any, is focused on City Hall.
During the mayoral campaign last year, reports surfaced that McKinney, around 2019, was romantically involved with then-City Council President Mary Sheffield, who voted with fellow council members to approve millions of dollars in contracts for McKinney's company. In subsequent years, Sheffield helped approve millions of dollars more in contracts for Gayanga.
Sheffield went on to win the mayoral race in November in a landslide.
McKinney has said the dirt he used in the city was provided by a city-approved vendor, Milford Township-based Iron Horse of Michigan Inc. He insists Gayanga is not responsible for ensuring the dirt is free of contamination, Crain's reports. Iron Horse has previously denied that the dirt it supplies demolition contractors is contaminated.
That development comes as the Detroit News reports that the number of demolition sites the city is testing for contaminated dirt has grown from 420 to 650.
