A northern Michigan conservation organization is suing the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
The group Anglers of the Au Sable says the MEDC failed to hand over documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act.
The group says it was promised over 9,000 pages from the state agency related to the development of a weapons manufacturing facility that recently broke ground in Grayling.
“They charged anglers a significant fee for the work they're doing or say they're doing,” said Dustin Ordway, the group’s attorney. “They keep telling anglers that they will provide the documents by a certain date and then the date comes and goes and nothing has been provided.”
Ordway says the Anglers filed their request in August and paid over $1,200 in September for documents they have yet to receive.
The group attached email exchanges in its court complaint saying the MEDC failed to meet multiple deadlines.
The MEDC declined to comment on the matter, citing pending litigation.
“The point of the lawsuit is simply to enforce the point of FOIA that publicly available documents must be made available,” Ordway told IPR News.
The case was filed in the Court of Claims last week.
