An engineering firm mentioned Friday it has agreed to pay $53 million to settle all remaining lawsuits that alleged some blame for lead-contaminated water in Flint, Michigan, a decade in the past.
The deal by Veolia North America and Flint residents comes on high of $26.3 million in earlier settlements with the corporate, and $626 million from the state of Michigan and different events.
Veolia has denied accountability for the contamination and repeatedly famous that it was briefly employed by Flint as a marketing consultant months after town started pulling water from the Flint River in 2014. The water was not handled to cut back corrosion, inflicting result in leach from outdated pipes.
Critics claimed Veolia might have executed far more earlier than then-Gov. Rick Snyder and Flint switched town’s water supply again to a regional provider in fall 2015. By that point, checks confirmed elevated lead levels in children.
“This ultimate settlement is by no means an admission of accountability, however the very best decision to keep away from a long time of expensive, unproductive, and time-consuming litigation, and to carry closure for all events concerned,” Veolia mentioned.
The corporate mentioned the Flint water disaster was “attributable to authorities officers.” Veolia mentioned it had no function within the water swap or working the Flint water plant and was advised that the water was assembly requirements.
The $53 million settlement can be distributed to roughly 26,000 individuals represented by regulation companies, the Michigan legal professional normal’s workplace mentioned. As a part of the deal, the state will dismiss its personal separate lawsuit towards Veolia.
“After years of drawn-out authorized battles, this settlement lastly closes a chapter for Flint residents,” Lawyer Basic Dana Nessel mentioned.
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