Flint Residents Seek $220 Million in Damages Against EPA in Toxic Water Lawsuit

On April 25, 2016, named plaintiff Jan Burgess and 513 other current and former residents of Flint, Michigan filed a notice of class action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the complaint—filed almost two years after city officials decided to save money by switching Flint’s water source from Detroit’s municipal system to the Flint River—the plaintiffs assert that the EPA was negligent, which contributed to the dangerous levels of lead in the city’s water supply. They seek $220 million in damages as a result of the agency’s conduct.

Jan Burgess, a former Flint resident, purportedly made numerous complaints to the City of Flint and the State of Michigan about the tap water’s condition, but no action was taken. Then, in mid-October 2014, Burgess requested the EPA to perform an investigation of the water supply. Less than a week after the request was made, an EPA representative informed Burgess that the poor quality of the water in Flint was temporary and that city and state officials were working together to resolve the problem.

Despite assurances from the EPA that the water issue would be handled, in a June 2015 memo, EPA representative Miguel Del Toral referred to the government agency’s reaction to the toxic water crisis in Flint as bordering on criminally negligent.                                                     

The suit is just one of hundreds of similar Flint environmental lawsuits that have been filed in the past months seeking damages as a result of the water contamination.

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