State Fights Door-to-Door Water Delivery in Flint, Michigan

Michigan state officials are trying to block a federal court order for door-to-door delivery of bottled water in Flint, where residents have been drinking lead-tainted water since 2014. In a motion for a stay of U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson’s ruling last week, the state said the order places an “immediate, insurmountable burden” on the state and argued Lawson’s ruling isn’t likely to hold up on an appeal to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Flint is making repairs to its water delivery system, but the changes aren’t happening quickly enough, Lawson ruled last week.

“In modern society, when we turn on a faucet, we expect safe drinking water to flow out,” Lawson wrote. “The relief is intended to provide a rough substitute for the essential service that municipal water systems must furnish: delivery of safe drinking water at the point of use.”

Flint’s water became contaminated more than two years ago when the city switched its water supply to the Flint River from the cleaner but more expensive water drawn from Lake Huron. Since then, potentially thousands of Flint residents have been exposed to the lead-tainted water, including children, for whom lead poisoning can be a life sentence of emotional and intellectual problems.

“A stay of the injunction is warranted because the state defendants are likely to prevail on the merits of their appeal, neither plaintiffs nor the residents of Flint will be irreparably harmed by a stay and the public interest strongly favors a stay,” the state argued in the motion. “Emergency consideration of this motion is required because the injunction places an immediate, insurmountable, burden on the state of Michigan and is directed at the state defendants, who lack the authority to ensure compliance.”

The city of Flint, which was also ordered under Lawson’s ruling to participate in the water delivery, did not join in the motion.

• See Also: Federal Judge Orders Door-to-Door Bottled Water Delivery in Flint

Anna Heaton, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Snyder, told the Detroit Free Press the "herculean effort required by the court order would be on the magnitude of a large-scale military operation."

Complying with the order wouldn't just require door-to-door delivery, Heaton said, but canvassing to determine which homes have water filters and cleaning up empty bottles that would make their way into Flint's waste stream.

"The resources to accomplish this would only be available through the activation of the National Guard or the hiring of several logistics companies with the necessary equipment and personnel to achieve this unprecedented level of effort," she said.

Heaton also said complying with the order would set the state back in helping Flint recover from the water crisis, including the installation of lead-free service lines and providing on-demand water delivery to home-bound residents. Additionally, state and local nonprofit groups are already visiting Flint homes to ensure that water filters are being used and properly maintained.

State officials have also argued the integrity of the water system depends on people using the filtered tap water. A decrease in water use due to the availability of bottled water will slow the recovery, Heaton said.

Plaintiffs in the case — Concerned Pastors for Social Action, Flint resident Melissa Mays, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan — responded swiftly.

“It’s sad that the state of Michigan continues to disenfranchise the community of Flint. What happened to Governor Snyder’s pledge that he would work to fix Flint’s drinking water crisis? This action today inflicts more harm on a city that’s already hurting,” Pastor Allen Overton, with the Concerned Pastors for Social Action, said in a statement.

Henry Henderson, Midwest director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the motion an “insult” to Flint residents.

“The facts in this case are clear: The state is failing to deliver safe drinking water to the people of Flint,” Henderson said in the statement. “Seeking to delay the federal court order that the state immediately fix Flint’s water crisis is an obvious insult to the people of Flint, whose tap water has been contaminated with lead for more than two years.”

Through the case, the plaintiffs are seeking to compel city and state officials to follow federal requirements for testing and treating water to control for lead and to order the prompt replacement of all lead water pipes at no cost to Flint residents. The suit also seeks appropriate relief to remedy the health and medical harms to Flint residents from the lead contamination. The lawsuit is not seeking monetary damages.

Photo by Ricardo Bernardo via Flickr Commons