10 Years of Betrayal: Flint Forgotten, EPA Lies, Money Unpaid, Pipes Unlaid
#FlintWaterCrisis is NOT Over
“The [Flint Water Crisis] disaster was preventable had the EPA simply done its job.”
Flint, Michigan residents Jan Burgess, Rhonda Kelso, and Melissa Mays, in a 4/23/24 letter to President Joe Biden
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Flint Water Crisis, which began on April 25th, 2014. The crisis unfolded when corruption led Flint, Michigan, to switch its water supply from Detroit’s system to the Flint River without implementing corrosion control measures. Despite persistent complaints from residents about rashes, hair loss, and itchy skin, officials looked the other way. Over time, the community–predominantly poor and Black–suffered increasingly severe health problems, including cognitive delays in children, Legionnaires’ disease, and death.
Residents still don’t have clean water. Seriously.
Residents still haven’t received what they are owed, and the small amount of money they’ve been granted can hardly begin to account for the lives shattered, ruined, and lost.
Flint Residents Have Received $0, Lawyers Have Received Millions
It’s important to get something straight right away. The Michigan Civil Rights Commission has concluded that the lack of governmental response and action in the water crisis was the result of systemic racism.
Systemic racism is holding even in restitution. Despite being awarded a legal settlement with the state in 2020, Flint residents have seen nothing of the $626.25 million settlement fund.
Who has been paid? Lawyers.
By the way, lawyers will receive $200 million in fees in full. They were supposed to receive their money at the same time as the residents, but they got tired of waiting and so received millions early. That’s something!
Here’s a breakdown of what’s been paid out so far:
$40.8 in attorney fees + $17.1 million in attorney expenses
$4.47 million to Archer Systems (claims verification system set up)
$5.5 million to Wolf Garretson LLC and Pattern Data
$3.8 million to Blank Rome law firm
$1.9 million to Alvarez & Marsal Disputes and Investigations
$600,000 to attorney Miriam Wolock
$0 to Flint, Michigan residents
This article further breaks down what’s going on. I’m a ball of rage about this.
Flint Still Doesn’t Have Clean Water
I want to reiterate that it has been TEN YEARS since the water crisis began, and Flint still doesn’t have clean water.
The City of Flint has not finished the lead pipe replacement program. The program NEVER INCLUDED the pipes inside the homes that were corroded due to the negligence of the officials who made the decisions that harmed the city.
In March of this year, the City of Flint was held in contempt for failing to meet lead pipe settlement deadlines.
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NRDC Press Release Quotes From Residents:
“We won’t stop fighting to fix Flint and stand ready to help others living with the threat of lead poisoning from drinking a glass of water.”
Melissa Mays, Operations Manager of Flint Rising
“Ten years is too long to wait for safe drinking water and too long to secure justice that has been denied. I grew up in Flint and that experience built both my resolve and faith in the power of people to rise up in service to their community and their nation,” said Pastor Allen C. Overton of Concerned Pastors for Social Action. “We will not stop pushing the City of Flint to successfully remove the wrecked lead pipes still delivering water to homes, and restoring yards and sidewalks damaged by the work to replace lead pipes.”
Sarah Tallman, a senior attorney with NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and lawyer in the case said, “Flint residents have been waiting far too long for the City to finish getting the lead pipes out. Ten years into this crisis, we expect the City to finish the job this year. I continue to be inspired by the persistence and fierce advocacy of community members in seeking the justice they are owed from the government.”
“Flint residents have been through enough and the City’s failure to replace all lead service lines has compounded their suffering,” said Bonsitu Kitaba, Deputy Legal Director for the ACLU of Michigan. “Flint residents deserve clean, safe drinking water and to have their properties repaired. We will continue to fight alongside the heroic efforts of our clients – and all the residents of Flint – until the City does what it should have done years ago.”
All quotes from 4/24/24 NRDC press release
Flint Residents’ Letter to Joe Biden
In June 2015, EPA regulations manager Miguel Del Toral sent a memo to those higher up in the agency titled “High Lead Levels in Flint, Michigan - Interim Report.” The memo highlighted that homes in Flint were seeing elevated lead levels, and in one house, levels were at 13,200 parts per billion (15 ppb is cause for concern *actually, anything above 0 ppb is, but we’re talking government regulations*). He also highlighted that the City of Flint wasn’t using corrosion control after switching to the Flint River.
For his trouble, he was ignored until the memo leaked. As a whistleblower, he’s been punished.
As we hit the 10th anniversary, Flint residents are urging President Joe Biden to recognize the EPA’s role in the water crisis and approve funds to settle an ongoing lawsuit against the agency.
The EPA is tasked with ensuring safe drinking water, yet, according to our evidence, it knew about the hazards of Flint’s water supply and failed to act. The agency has not been held accountable and has repeatedly attempted to dismiss the lawsuit, including as recently as February.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for psychological trauma, emotional distress, and disruption to life experienced by the community.
“The [Flint Water Crisis] disaster was preventable had the EPA simply done its job…[The EPA] stood by and reinforced the state's false assurances to us that our drinking water was safe, despite knowing that it was a lie…Your administration publicly expressed dismay and shock about what was going on in our city, and yet, to this date, the federal government is the only entity that refuses to take any responsibility for its failures."
Flint, Michigan residents Jan Burgess, Rhonda Kelso, and Melissa Mays, in a 4/23/24 letter to President Joe Biden
According to reporting by the Detroit Free Press, White House spokeswoman Sneha Choudhary would not address federal failings in Flint and instead pointed to Biden’s $15 billion lead pipe replacement program (note that this is less than Biden just yesterday signed off on to send to Israel to continue committing genocide against Gaza) and $5 million for Flint (that’s not going to go far!!!).
Choudhary also said Biden “firmly believes no family should worry that water from their tap will harm their children.” Okay.
If that is, in fact, what he believes, then he should hold the EPA accountable and actually fix Flint.
Courage News Original Reporting
Courage News’ reporting shows that the EPA knew something was wrong with the water and did not publicly act. According to highly confidential documents obtained by Courage News, the EPA has likely misled the public about the timeline of their warnings and communications to a state agency about the water crisis. These actions undoubtedly harmed the health and safety of an untold number of Flint residents.
This page contains portions of a confidential investigative subpoena (IS) of former Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant. The MDEQ (now renamed) was responsible for ensuring Flint’s water met federal standards. The EPA is responsible for compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. Both were responsible for keeping Flint's drinking water safe. Both failed horrifically.
In the IS of Dan Wyant, conducted on July 26, 2016, Wyant said that there were varying reactions within the EPA following knowledge of lead in the water and that he was “quite disappointed that if EPA had an issue they didn’t call [MDEQ] and say they had an issue.” This, said under oath by Wyant, contradicts what EPA officials have said in the media (not under oath).
Wyant’s transcript shows that the EPA knew about the hazardous conditions of the Flint water crisis but completely failed to act decisively or consistently. They did not intervene, they did not properly inform the MDEQ, and they did not take action to prevent the crisis despite that being their role and despite knowing the risks.
When Miguel Del Toral sent his memo sounding the alarm on high lead levels in Flint, Susan Hedman was the EPA’s Region 5 administrator, which serves Flint. Hedman resigned in 2016 and blamed the MDEQ for the water crisis. And by the way, the MDEQ deserves a lot of blame. These screenshots and this reporting are not meant to absolve them. They are to highlight that the blame falls widely, including on the EPA, and that -
Flint residents’ letter to Joe Biden is absolutely valid
For Susan Hedman, and more widely the EPA, to not take accountability is absurd. Hedman suggested she had to resign due to “false allegations.” She said she was “widely portrayed in the media” as someone who “sat on the sidelines during the crisis” and “downplayed concerns raised by an EPA scientist about lead in the water.”
Courage News has reason to believe that is exactly true–Dan Wyant’s investigative subpoena, where he is speaking under oath, states there was “indication by the regional administrator [Susan Hedman] that we were actually complying with the federal and capital rule.” Also directly contradicted by the subpoena are Hedman’s claims that the MDEQ wouldn’t act despite her months-long prodding.
Again, none of this is to absolve the MDEQ or Wyant (the only heroes I’ve spoken about on this page are the residents of Flint!), but it’s clear the EPA needs to be held accountable. The EPA has not acknowledged its role. Officials were aware many months before the public was told. They are responsible for illnesses, deaths, and tragedies, which are too many to list.
Mr. President Joe Biden–you, too, are accountable.
You were Vice President at the time; you’re president now. Address the residents of Flint and do what’s right.
Essentially no one has been held accountable for the Flint Water Crisis.
It’s time. We can’t stop fighting.
Solidarity Forever,
Jenn Dize
Do you prefer to outright donate any amount to keep Courage News going? That would be incredible!
To donate to Courage News and keep the lights on (literally!), please visit PayPal.me/content, the Stripe Donation Link, or subscribe at CourageNews.Substack.com.