(The Hill)
A federal judge this week said residents of Flint, Mich., can sue the federal government over its response to the city's drinking water crisis.
Judge Linda Parker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan said Thursday the government is not immune from a lawsuit. She did not rule on whether federal employees were negligent in addressing Flint’s contaminated water.
Residents have long blamed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for waiting too long to intervene after a change in water treatment practices allowed lead to leach into the city’s tap water.
The contamination began in 2014 but continued for years as local and state officials provided inaccurate information about the safety and issues with city water. EPA officials knew residents were not being warned of the contamination.
“These lies went on for months while the people of Flint continued to be poisoned,” Parker, an Obama appointee, wrote in her order.
The EPA referred inquiries to the Justice Department, which declined to comment for this story. Flint residents began complaining about water quality issues shortly after the city switched its water source in April 2014, but city and state officials denied any problems until studies from Virginia Tech University researchers and Hurley Medical Center in Flint showed high lead levels in both water and children’s blood. Read more