Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office has asked a federal judge to reject an attempt by former Edenville Dam owner Lee Mueller to shield himself from a nearly $120 million judgment through bankruptcy protection, MLive.com reported. On Nov. 16, Nessel’s office motioned for dismissal of Mueller’s chapter 13 case in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Nevada, calling the former dam owner’s filing a “bad faith” effort to avoid paying judgments following the 2020 Michigan flooding disaster. Mueller, of Las Vegas, was ordered to pay $119,825,000 in natural resource damages by a federal judge in Michigan, who issued a default judgment against the former Boyce Hydro owner on Nov. 27 after ruling in February he was personally liable for the death of fish and freshwater mussels during the flood. In the state’s motion in Nevada, assistant attorney general Nathan Gambill called Mueller “one of the worst environmental wrongdoers in Michigan history.” “His bankruptcy filings do not reflect it, but Mr. Mueller’s sole purpose in pursuing bankruptcy relief is to discharge court judgments,” Gambill wrote. A spokesperson for Nessel’s office said Michigan seeks to collect on the Nov. 27 judgment “to the fullest extent permitted by law” and use the money for “restorative purposes.”
