Flint water crisis claimants one step closer to receiving settlement checks
Flint water crisis claimants one step closer to receiving settlement checks
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Nearly 26,000 individuals harmed by the historic Flint water crisis about a decade ago will begin receiving their settlement money this fall, according to a special master appointed by a federal judge to manage distribution of the money.
Special Master Deborah Greenspan said in a recent court filing that eligible claimants will receive instructions this fall on how to obtain their payments through a Flint-specific payment portal, 11 years after the city of Flint switched its water source to the Flint River and triggered a toxic lead crisis in the city.
“Currently, no payment letters or requests for bank information have been sent out,” Greenspan said in the Aug. 29 filing. “You will not be asked to provide such information except in the official Flint Water payment portal that you will be given access to. That portal is NOT yet open.”
Greenspan said the Aug. 29 notice was issued in response to “numerous inquiries regarding the payment process and the timing of payments under the settlement.” As of Aug. 25, Greenspan said, 25,759 individuals had been approved for payment, with 13,169 of those being minors at the time of the water crisis and 12,590 adults or businesses.
Nessel, in a statement Friday, said she was “relieved” to see the process moving forward.
“I urge every claimant to remain cautious, not share financial information with anyone outside of the official process, and immediately report suspicious requests to the Special Master’s office,” she said. “These funds are meant to support Flint families, not line the pockets of scammers.”
Greenspan’s fall timeline for payment processing comes more than two years after the state and other parties finalized a roughly $626 million settlement with Flint residents and businesses in March 2023. The state’s portion of the settlement, nearly $600 million, was first announced in August 2020. The settlement total also includes $20 million from Flint, $5 million from McLaren Regional Medical Center and $1.25 million from private engineering company Rowe Professional Services Co.
Additionally, last year, engineering company Veolia North America settled a $25 million class action lawsuit; and, earlier this year, the state agreed to dismiss its civil lawsuit against Veolia after the company agreed to pay $53 million the roughly 26,000 individual Flint plaintiffs suing the company in the class action suit. Boston-based Veolia has admitted no wrongdoing.
Greenspan stressed in the Aug. 29 notice that money can only be distributed from the fund with approval of the U.S. District Court.
“No one else can access the Flint Water Settlement Fund,” Greenspan wrote. “The lawyers, the city of Flint, elected officials and the state of Michigan have no authority or control over the fund.”
Claimants who have already received a request for banking information related to the settlement should not provide information and should call the special master’s office at (202) 402-2200 to report the incident, Greenspan wrote.
The Flint water crisis began in April 2014, when the city of Flint, under state-controlled emergency management, switched its drinking water source from Detroit’s Lake Huron water pipeline to the Flint River while completing construction of a new pipeline from Lake Huron to Genesee County, known as the Karegnondi Water Authority pipeline.
Flint’s water treatment plant failed to add proper corrosion control chemicals to the Flint River water, causing the city’s drinking water to leach toxic lead from water service lines between the roadway and homes and through the taps of thousands of homes.
The leaching of lead went on for months before then-Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration switched Flint back to Detroit’s water system in October 2015, following the discovery of elevated levels of lead in the bloodstreams of Flint children.
eleblanc@detroitnews.com