Brian McKinney is the Detroit native who founded Gayanga Co., a demolition contractor that became one of the city’s largest recipients of public demolition work before collapsing in 2026 amid allegations it used contaminated dirt to backfill hundreds of residential lots. He has shut Gayanga down, sued the city for $100 million, and remains the subject of an open FBI investigation, though no criminal charges have been filed against him or anyone at the company.
Who Brian McKinney Is
Before founding Gayanga, McKinney was a partner at a construction engineering firm in Houston and had a background in software development.1CONEXPO-CON/AGG. Unconventional Recruiting Helps Detroit Demolition He returned home to Detroit after a minority contractor fair convinced him there was room for minority-owned firms in the city’s blight-removal effort. He incorporated Gayanga in November 2016, and the company was fully operational by September 2017. The name comes from Gaspar Yanga, a sixteenth-century leader of a colony of escaped enslaved people in Mexico.
Gayanga grew fast. City demolition contracts rose from $417,000 in 2017 to between $7 million and $9 million a year through 2020, then jumped to $23 million in 2021 and $28.5 million in 2022.2Detroit Free Press. Detroit Upholds Suspension of Demolition Contractor Gayanga Co In total, the company won more than $67 million in city contracts. Then-Mayor Mike Duggan publicly praised Gayanga as the kind of minority-owned, Detroit-based firm the city should prioritize.3Detroit Free Press. Timeline: Toxic Dirt at Detroit Demolition Sites About 85 percent of Gayanga’s workforce lived in Detroit, and 90 percent were African American or Hispanic. McKinney also ran a pre-apprenticeship program for skilled trades.1CONEXPO-CON/AGG. Unconventional Recruiting Helps Detroit Demolition
The Contaminated Dirt Allegations
In June 2025, the Detroit Office of Inspector General opened an investigation into Gayanga and McKinney over the backfill used at residential demolition sites.4City of Detroit Office of Inspector General. Gayanga Investigation Press Release The OIG alleged that dirt used to fill the holes left by demolished homes contained arsenic, lead, chromium, and other toxic chemicals at levels exceeding Michigan’s residential environmental standards.5FOX 2 Detroit. Contaminated Dirt in Detroit at Heart of $100M Lawsuit Investigators traced some of the material to the former Northland Mall redevelopment site in Southfield.6Bridge Detroit. Suspension Upheld for Prominent Detroit Demolition Contractor
According to the OIG, 42 of 47 tested Gayanga sites exceeded state pollution standards, and 62 percent of those were deemed “unsafe for direct human contact.” Inspector General Kamau Marable said information Gayanga provided to the city about the sources of its backfill was incorrect and that the city’s system relied on self-reporting and an “honor system.”
The investigation widened. Iron Horse, a Milford Township excavation firm the city had approved as a dirt supplier, was suspended in November 2025 after elevated contaminants showed up at sites it serviced. Iron Horse had supplied backfill to 424 demolition sites across four contractors between July 2024 and November 2025.7Detroit News. Detroit Investigating Scope of Contaminated Dirt at Demo Sites Although Iron Horse claimed to provide undisturbed native soil, investigators found dirt was being trucked into its site from elsewhere, and the company refused a request from environmental consultants to test that imported material. By late December 2025, officials said more than 500 sites were potentially affected, including 87 specifically tied to Gayanga. The total grew to more than 650 as testing continued into 2026.8Detroit Free Press. Duggan Drops Bid for Governor Amid Toxic Dirt Fallout in Detroit
McKinney’s position throughout has been that Gayanga sourced its backfill from vendors the city itself approved, including Iron Horse, and that any contamination traces back to the city’s own vetting failures. His attorney, Todd Perkins, has said the company “did not do anything wrong.”5FOX 2 Detroit. Contaminated Dirt in Detroit at Heart of $100M Lawsuit
An earlier OIG probe into Gayanga, completed in September 2023, had reviewed nearly 1,300 load tickets and found that while about 1.7 percent were inaccurate or incomplete, the deficiencies did not rise to the level of fraud.9City of Detroit Office of Inspector General. OIG Investigation Report, File No. 22-0018-INV
Suspension, Shutdown, and the FBI Probe
On September 11, 2025, the OIG issued a 90-day temporary suspension barring Gayanga and McKinney from city contracting pending a debarment determination.4City of Detroit Office of Inspector General. Gayanga Investigation Press Release On November 18, 2025, the Detroit City Council voted 9-0 to uphold the suspension.2Detroit Free Press. Detroit Upholds Suspension of Demolition Contractor Gayanga Co Because Detroit’s debarment ordinance caps suspensions at 180 days, the suspension lifted on March 11, 2026, without a final debarment ruling. By then, the damage was done.10Detroit Free Press. Gayanga Demolition Contractor Detroit Shutting Down, Suing City
At the November 18 council hearing, dozens of subcontractors came forward alleging that Gayanga owed them millions in unpaid work. Valley Transport claimed nearly $700,000. City Abatement Services claimed $611,000. Detroit Environmental Solutions claimed $350,000. A&E Concrete claimed $285,000. G and M Contracting claimed $274,000. Attorney Michael Leavitt, representing multiple subcontractors, said Gayanga collectively owed vendors more than $1 million and alleged the city approved nearly $70 million in contracts despite the company not maintaining required performance and payment bonds.11Michigan Chronicle. Detroit Council Upholds Suspension of Demolition Contractor
A separate criminal track was moving in parallel. The Detroit Police Department opened a fraud investigation in September 2025, focused on whether Gayanga misrepresented soil sources on load tickets, and executed 13 search warrants, seizing a laptop, a cell phone, and hundreds of records.12Detroit Free Press. FBI Detroit Dirty Dirt Demolition Contractor Investigation Police consulted the FBI in November 2025 and formally transferred the case in February 2026. As of late April 2026, a Gayanga spokesman said the FBI had not contacted McKinney or any other company personnel, and the bureau’s Detroit field office declined to comment.
On May 7, 2026, Gayanga closed its doors. No criminal charges had been filed against McKinney or anyone at the company.10Detroit Free Press. Gayanga Demolition Contractor Detroit Shutting Down, Suing City
McKinney’s $100 Million Lawsuit Against the City
The same day he announced Gayanga’s closure, McKinney filed a defamation lawsuit against the city’s Office of Inspector General and Inspector General Kamau Marable individually. The complaint alleges the defendants made “false and materially misleading public statements” portraying McKinney and his company as “responsible for widespread environmental contamination in the City of Detroit,” and that those statements destroyed the business.10Detroit Free Press. Gayanga Demolition Contractor Detroit Shutting Down, Suing City The suit seeks $100 million in damages and characterizes McKinney as a “fall guy” for systemic failures in how the city oversaw its demolition program.5FOX 2 Detroit. Contaminated Dirt in Detroit at Heart of $100M Lawsuit McKinney also claims the OIG referred the matter to police without ever interviewing Gayanga’s contractors, truckers, or other directly involved parties.
The city has declined to comment on the pending litigation. It has said it intends to pursue cost-recovery actions against Gayanga, though an attorney for the city’s Law Department acknowledged the company has a “long list of creditors.”13Bridge Detroit. Detroit to Pay $52K to Fix Soil Contamination at One Demo Site
The Mary Sheffield Relationship
In November 2025, reporting revealed that McKinney had been in a romantic relationship with Mary Sheffield, then the Detroit City Council President Pro Tempore. Sheffield’s office confirmed the relationship occurred in 2019 but declined to specify when it started or ended.14Detroit Free Press. Mary Sheffield McKinney Controversy and Detroit Ethics System
In April 2019, Sheffield sought guidance from the Detroit Board of Ethics. The board advised her she was not required to disclose the relationship because the city’s ethics ordinance mandated disclosure only for familial, spousal, or domestic partnerships, but it counseled her to “exercise caution” and “remain independent.”15Bridge Detroit. Sheffield Ethics and Contractor Votes Sheffield then voted to approve $4.4 million in Gayanga contracts in 2019 and at least $54.6 million in additional contracts between 2020 and 2022. McKinney also contributed more than $13,000 to Sheffield’s mayoral campaign and a supporting political action committee; her campaign returned at least one donation after his suspension. Sheffield faced no formal ethics investigation or sanctions and became mayor of Detroit in January 2026.
Wider Fallout: Duggan, Cleanup Costs, and Where Things Stand
The scandal reached well beyond McKinney. Duggan, who had launched an independent run for governor in December 2024, saw his signature blight-removal achievement turn into a political liability. Critics labeled the controversy “dirtgate,” and Michigan Democrats launched billboard and digital ads accusing Duggan of allowing “lead and arsenic to be dumped across the city.”16MLive. Michigan Democrats Launch Detroit Billboard Campaign Targeting Duggan Over Toxic Dirt On May 21, 2026, Duggan dropped his gubernatorial bid. He denied the scandal played a role and defended the demolition program as a “historic success.”8Detroit Free Press. Duggan Drops Bid for Governor Amid Toxic Dirt Fallout in Detroit
Projected cleanup costs have climbed sharply. Duggan initially put the figure at $8 million; by June 2026 it had reached $27 million, with 80 percent of tested completed demolition sites exceeding state contamination limits.17Planet Detroit. Detroit Toxic Dirt Cleanup Costs Reach $27 Million Recovering those costs is uncertain. Gayanga has shut down, and Iron Horse has sold its Milford Township property. As of June 2026, the city had not filed any lawsuits to recoup cleanup expenses, though it had approved a $52,000 remediation contract for a single site.13Bridge Detroit. Detroit to Pay $52K to Fix Soil Contamination at One Demo Site
As of mid-2026, McKinney’s $100 million lawsuit against the city remains pending, the FBI investigation into Gayanga continues without charges, and Detroit is still testing and remediating hundreds of potentially contaminated lots.