Cummings’ letter comes one day after a federal racketeering lawsuit against Snyder and other state officials was filed by hundreds of Flint residents – the latest of more than a dozen on behalf of aggrieved residents.
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The corrosive river water leached lead, a toxic substance that can damage the nervous system, from the city’s water pipes.
“The lawsuit is meant to set that record straight”, said Thomas Bleakley, an attorney representing the school board and other plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Instead of declaring bankruptcy, attorneys say the city appointed an emergency manager. “Balancing the budget seems like the government’s gaining ground, functioning properly”.
“They were able to create a budget surplus”, Clark said. “But Governor Snyder continues to ignore me, my administration and the residents of Flint”. To bring justice to the people of Flint and avoid similar tragedies, we as a nation must treat water access as the human right it is and prioritize the democratic control of water over private profit and financial gain.
To help alleviate those concerns, officials are urging residents to flush their water faucets to remove the fragments and clean aerators in their water filters at least once a week.
Bankruptcy seems like a cop-out …
While general fund revenue is down slightly over the past two years, the city’s water and sewer fund could face a $35 million deficit. A federal state of emergency has been declared in Flint due to risky levels of contamination in the water supply. Officials have been hesitant on placing a timeline on when they believe the city’s water will be considered safe. After multiple investigations and congressional hearings, the governor is now facing a racketeering lawsuit in regards to the Flint water crisis.
The class action, filed in U.S. District Court in Flint, charged that Snyder and other officials enacted a “wrongful scheme to solve Flint’s fiscal problem by selling Flint residents poisoned drinking water” in order to balance the city’s financial books. The lawsuits could potentially generate billions of dollars of damages.
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“What they realized was that a lot of the things that they would put in to remove the lead also had bad side effects, so there’s not just an easy solution to it”, said their teacher. “That we were going to get everybody what they deserve”. The damage might not show up for years, and there’s no way to reverse some of the effects. “The tenor of this entire area has been changed forever as a result of this scheme, and that’s why we worked hard to uncover the scheme”. And even where such notice is given, the party still must state a claim on which relief can be granted in avoidance of State Defendants’ immunity.
