On Thursday, Flint residents and the last engineering suspect in the huge lawsuit over the city’s water crisis said they had reached a $25 million deal that would keep the case from going to trial. Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam (LAN), an engineering company, will pay $8 million to settle the civil lawsuits that are still being heard about the Flint water crisis.
This amount will be added to a $626 million fund for settling the water problem. This brings the total amount of money that the parties to the settlement have given to the fund to just over $641.2 million.
In order to save money, Flint switched its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River in 2014. This is when the water crisis started. The water from the Flint River wasn’t treated properly, so it got lead into the city’s water system. At least 12 deaths and many illnesses have been linked to the situation.
The deal will set up a victims’ compensation fund that will be overseen by the court. Almost 80% of the money will go to people who were younger than 18 at the time of the crisis.
Based on each case, the rest of the money will be split up as follows: about 18% will go to adults and property damage, 0.5% to business loss, and 2% to programs for Flint’s children.
The settlement is a big step toward giving Flint people money to make up for the damage the water crisis caused. It does not, however, end the cases that the plaintiffs and the people of Flint have against other defendants, such as the US Environmental Protection Agency and the two engineering firms that are still giving advice about Flint’s water supply.
Each person will get a different amount of money based on their own unique situation. A portion of the settlement amount will be used to pay for costs and fees. The victims will then receive the rest. The Court will decide on the requests that lawyers for the claimants make to the Court about how much their fees should be.
About 79.5% of the settlement money that can be used to pay claims will go to children who are or were minors when they were first introduced to Flint. Another 18% will go to adults and property damage, 0.5% to business loss, and 2% to programs for Flint children.
The deal has nothing to do with the criminal case. It is part of the civil law process. In civil cases like this, money issues are solved instead of criminal charges. Any criminal charges that have to do with the Flint water disaster would be dealt with separately.
It was terrible for the people of Flint when the water crisis happened, and this deal is a step toward giving them the money they deserve. The court will keep an eye on the victims’ settlement fund to make sure the money is spent fairly and quickly.
The Flint Water Justice page has more information about the role of the Court-appointed claims administrator in the settlement.
In conclusion, the $25 million deal that Flint residents reached with the last engineering defendant in the lawsuit over the city’s water crisis is a big step toward giving the victims of the crisis money to help them recover.
The deal will set up a victims’ compensation fund that will be overseen by the court. Almost 80% of the money will go to people who were younger than 18 at the time of the crisis.
Based on each case, the rest of the money will be split up as follows: about 18% will go to adults and property damage, 0.5% to business loss, and 2% to programs for Flint’s children.
This deal does not end the lawsuits that the plaintiffs and the people of Flint have against other defendants, but it is a big step toward giving the people of Flint the money they deserve.