Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have reached a preliminary settlement of $600 Million for residents affected by the Flint water crisis, which focuses on city youth who were impacted. It’s one of the largest settlements in Michigan history and comes five years after the crisis was uncovered.
Many residents are feeling cautiously optimistic and relieved by the settlement, with others calling for more work to be done.
Attorney Trachelle Young shared, The settlement is “just the beginning of the end. We’re headed now in the right direction. This partial settlement says Flint matters. It says we matter.”
Flint residents impacted by the crisis have the choice of taking a payout through this settlement, or moving forward with their own lawsuit. However, this settlement prevents residents from being able to pursue both avenues.
Although the work to replace lead service lines is 90% complete, some flint families are still waiting. Due to this, some residents are still having to utilize bottled water to protect them from ingesting the toxic water created by harsh Flint river water corroding outdated lead service lines.
Flint residents are also still fighting for criminal charges to be brought to the State officials responsible for the crisis to hold those at fault accountable. Attorney General Dana Nessel is listening, and has started the investigation over again, stating that its initial execution was flawed. She and her team are dedicated to ensuring the correct officials are held responsible, and that all details of the investigation are thoroughly reviewed. Her team shared that new criminal charges are still possible once the investigation is complete.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the pediatrician who played a large role in exposing the crisis for Flint children, reacted to the settlement by sharing, “Healing wounds and restoring trust will take decades and long-term resources. I am hopeful this settlement serves as a reminder of Flint’s lessons; where the perfect storm of environmental injustice, indifferent bureaucracy, lost democracy and austerity, compounded by decades of racism and deindustrialization left a city powerless and forgotten. Never again should this country have to deal with the generational repercussions of a community poisoned by policies.”
To read more about this settlement and next steps for Flint’s impacted community, head to Bridge MI here.
