According to Attorney General Dana Nessel, after two years, a judge has ordered the state of Michigan to pay $600 million to settle the lawsuits over Flint’s water crisis, The Hill reported.
“This historic settlement cannot undo the unimaginable hardship and heartbreaking health effects these families and children in Flint have endured,” Nessel said to The Hill. “This ruling provides families with much- needed compensation for the injuries they have suffered. I am proud of my team’s tireless work on behalf of the people of Flint.”
Flint’s water crisis left 12 people dead after subjecting thousands of people to lead-contaminated water. Exposure to lead can cause kidney and brain damage, as well as other behavioral and health problems.
This settlement comes nine years after former Michigan governor Rick Synder tried to save the city money by switching Flint’s water system from Detroit’s Lake Huron to the Flint River. According to The Michigan Advance, the change was done without taking any anti-corrosion measures, which caused oiled pipes to leak into the city’s water.
According to The Michigan Advance, residents of Flint began to complain about discolored water, which caused rashes and hair loss.
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission wrote, “The people of Flint have been subjected to unprecedented harm and hardship, much of it caused by structural and systemic discrimination and racism that have corroded your city, your institutions, and your water pipes, for generations.”
The Michigan Civil Rights Commission added, “When the last of the civil lawsuits and the Attorney General’s criminal investigations are completed, and relief dollars from state and federal sources are exhausted, what will remain is a city and its people who will continue to fight against built-in barriers but whose voices — as a matter of public right — must never be stifled or quelled again.”