Flint Families Name MI Gov. Rick Snyder in Class Action Lawsuit

FLINT, MI – Residents of Flint, where a public health crisis has erupted over lead contamination in the city’s drinking water supply, on Monday filed a federal lawsuit Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, other government officials and corporations claiming they failed to take action to correct the situation and “downplayed the severity of the contamination.”

The lawsuit is the latest in a spate of actions against state and local government, including one in January that asked the court to step in and secure access to safe, clean drinking water for Flint’s approximately 100,000 residents.

The city began getting its water from the Flint River in 2014 while under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager. The state has admitted it didn’t take measures to treat the corrosive properties in the water, and as a result, lead leached from the aging pipes, exposing tens of thousands to lead levels that exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.

The lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of seven residents seeks class-action status. It alleges Michigan officials violated the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Lead and Copper Rule, resulting in physical and economic damages suffered by tens of thousands of residents.

Also on Monday, Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers approved a second recall petition against Snyder because of his handling of the crisis, the Detroit Free Press reports. The petitioner, Flint activist Quincy Murphy, also filed a recall petition against Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, who would replace Snyder in the event of his recall, arguing that it was neither clear nor factual.

Last month, the Board of State Canvassers approved a petition to recall Snyder filed by the Rev. Paul Bullock, a Detroit activist.

During Sunday’s night’s CNN Democratic presidential debate, both former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called for Snyder’s resignation or recall from office, Clinton for the first time. Both candidates have been critical of state officials’ handling of water crisis, saying they were derelict in their duties.

On Friday, Michigan’s state auditor general said in a report that state environmental regulators made crucial errors when the water source was switched from Lake Huron to the Flint River, including treating the water with anti-corrosion chemicals.

The river water may also have been a source of a spike in Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area that has been linked to 10 deaths.

Read the petition filed in U.S. District Court below.