Residents of Flint won't be settling for just an apology. Representatives of the residents have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over their negligence on the Flint water crisis that led to health, environmental and personal damages.
On Monday, 513 residents filed the complaint against the agency, seeking $205.2 million for "personal injury damage" and $15 million for property damage, according to ABC News Go. EPA was sued for "irreparable impairment" of plumbing, water service lines, and hot water tanks, and for "physical injury" after residents consumed the contaminated water. The polluted water was tested for the presence of toxic substances such as lead and copper. One of the residents, Jan Burgess filed a notice to the EPA on Oct. 14, 2014, charging them of "massive environmental violation."
"For almost 50 years, Flint water uses enjoyed plentiful clean fresh water purchased from the Detroit Water and Sewage Department," the document read.
The same complaint is scheduled to be filed next week of 250 more Flint residents. The residents believe that the EPA was negligent to address the environmental and health issues despite the alarm of an EPA representative in June 2015. Last week, two Michigan Department of Environmental Quality employees and a supervisor at the Flint Plant Water were convicted with criminal offenses in the Flint water crisis, Reuters reported.
"A major concern from a public health standpoint is the absence of corrosion control treatment in the City of Flint for mitigating lead and copper levels in the drinking water," said EPA representative Miguel Del Toral in the memo. He also warned that failure to warn the Flint residents of the contaminated water "borders on criminal neglect," CNN claims.
A rep or the EPA said that the agency will review the complaint. Aside from the administrative complaint, Flint residents have also filed county, state and federal lawsuits before the Monday filing.
