More than 500 Flint, Mich., residents have filed a negligence claim against the Environmental Protection Agency for the lead-contaminated water in their city.
Michael Pitt, an attorney representing 513 Flint water users, brought the claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act. If denied, the complaint would serve as the basis for a lawsuit against the EPA.
Pitt wrote that the EPA was told by researcher Miguel Del Toral that the lead was too high in homes’ drinking water in June 2015 and didn’t notify the public. Doing so could have prevented the crisis, he wrote.
“If the EPA had followed the advice of its own expert, many of the injuries to the people of Flint could have been avoided or minimized,” he wrote.
In addition, the EPA knew in February 2015 that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and city of Flint may not have been using corrosion control in the city’s water system, Pitt wrote. If those controls were used, the lead pipes bringing water to people’s homes would not have leached and contaminated the water, he added.
The claim also states a Flint resident told the EPA of a major environmental violation in October 2014 regarding Flint’s water. The complaint from Jan Burgess stemmed from Michigan’s decision to switch the city to Flint River water.
“A timely investigation into her allegations would have caused the EPA to take action,” Pitt wrote. “The investigation did not take place until April 9, 2016. A timely response to the Report of Environmental Violation would have prevented the injuries to the Flint water users.”
The 513 people filing the claim place their cumulative losses in the water crisis at $220.2 million.
Another 250 Flint residents will be added to the claim next week.
Pitt said the EPA had an attitude of “public be damned.”
“The EPA’s own Miguel Del Toral blew the whistle on this catastrophe at a time when much of the injury to the people of Flint could have been prevented,” he said. “The EPA heard the alarm bell loud and clear but chose to ignore the profound environmental and public health issues brought to its attention in the early stages of this disaster.”
“This agency attitude of the ‘public be damned’ amounts to a cruel and unspeakable act of environmental injustice for which damages will have to be paid to the thousands of injured water users.”
An agency spokesman said, “We will review the complaint.”
