Lawsuit over Benton Harbor water seeks class-action status

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan and local officials have been targeted in a lawsuit over high levels of lead in Benton Harbor’s drinking water.

The lawsuit, filed this week in federal court, accuses the state and city of “deliberate indifference” in their response to the problem, which began to emerge in 2018. Doretha Braziel, one of many Benton Harbor residents listed in the lawsuit, said she only recently became aware that she should avoid drinking the water.

“The number of injured individuals who have been injured by exposure to lead in the Benton Harbor water is in the thousands,” according to the lawsuit, which seeks class-action status.

The lawsuit was filed a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it found a variety of violations at the Benton Harbor water plant as well as problems with how the city had communicated with residents about lead in the water.



FILE - Volunteers help distribute cases of water bottles at God Household of Faith, Friday, Oct. 29, 2021, in Benton Harbor, Mich. Michigan and local officials have been targeted in a lawsuit over high levels of lead in Benton Harbor's drinking water. The lawsuit, filed this week in federal court, accuses the state and city of "deliberate indifference" in their response to the problem, which began to emerge in 2018. (Nicole Hester/MLIVE.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP, File)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-michigan-lawsuits-environment-and-nature-e86fbded6229d1bf11760175192a8437

[wryter2000]

1. IIRC

Benton Harbor is a largely African American community.

[MichMan]

2. Benton Harbor residents sue, allege 'coverup' of city's water crisis

"Since at least 2018, the state, its agencies, directors, the city of Benton Harbor, its mayor, and city managers and water plant manager treated the evidence that the water running through lead service lines in the city of Benton Harbor was poisoned with high levels of lead with deliberate indifference," the lawsuit said.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the state Department of Health and Human Services, Benton Harbor Mayor Marcus Muhammad and the city's former water plant operator Michael O'Malley are among the defendants named in the new lawsuit.

Wednesday's court filing was the latest development amid increasing scrutiny of the handling of high lead levels in the city's water. Elevated levels were first detected in Benton Harbor in 2018 during routine testing, according to the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Much of the city's water distribution system is about 100 years old."

The Detroit News reported last month that state and city officials treated Benton Harbor's drinking water with a corrosion chemical blend that failed to control harmful levels of lead for more than two years and rejected federal requirements to fully study its effectiveness. Whitmer has also called for replacing all the lead pipes in the city in the next 18 months.

But the Benton Harbor residents behind the new lawsuit said there had been efforts to "engage in a coverup" by not issuing warnings about the water supply. One plaintiff, Michael Duane Brigham, 61, had been using the water coming from his tap for "all purposes" until October 2021, the lawsuit said. Brigham has medical conditions that are known to be connected with lead consumption in adults, the filing added.

Doretha Braziel, a lifelong Benton Harbor resident, said she wasn't notified prior to late October 2021 by any of the defendants the water she used was unsafe to drink. Her grandson, born on June 15, 2021, had been fed his formula with tap water until recently, according to the suit.

The suit claimed government officials didn't comply with requirements of the federal and state Safe Drinking Water Act on public notice and education. The suit sought the immediate replacement of lead service lines, establishment of a medical monitoring process, appointing a monitor to oversee the water operations of Benton Harbor and compensatory and punitive damages. "

[link:https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/12/benton-harbor-water-crisis-lead-whitmer-lawsuit-alleged-coverup/8586073002/|

[Carlitos Brigante]

3. The fact that their previous bag of shit governor is a free man to this day should be shocking. But

it ain't.