Flint Water Crisis: $600 Million Settlement for Lead-Poisoned Residents

In April 2014, state emergency managers switched Flint, Michigan's municipal water supply from Detroit's treated system to the Flint River without applying corrosion-control treatment. The untreated river water ate away at aging iron and lead pipes, carrying lead and other contaminants into the taps of roughly 100,000 residents for more than two years. State officials initially dismissed reports of discolored water and elevated illness rates, and the full scale of the contamination only became public in late 2015 after a pediatrician published blood-lead data showing a sharp rise in lead poisoning among the city's children.

The health toll fell hardest on children under six, whose developing brains absorb lead at far higher rates than adults. Lead poisoning at that age can cause irreversible cognitive delays, behavioral problems, and stunted growth. About 8,000 young children were ultimately identified as having elevated blood-lead levels. Thousands more adults suffered kidney damage and other injuries linked to the contaminated supply.

Federal lawsuits consolidated in the Eastern District of Michigan before Judge Judith Levy as In re Flint Water Cases (5:16-cv-10444). Judge Levy appointed Hunter Shkolnik of Napoli Shkolnik as Individual Plaintiffs' Co-Liaison Counsel, giving the firm a central coordination role across more than 18,000 pending and anticipated individual personal injury, wrongful death, and property damage cases. The firm established a bone-lead-level testing program for clients at offices in Flint, which the Sixth Circuit later credited in its 2023 opinion affirming the settlement.

On August 20, 2020, co-liaison counsel and negotiating attorneys announced a $600 million preliminary settlement with the State of Michigan, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the City of Flint, and several current and former officials. The State of Michigan contributed $600 million, with the City of Flint adding $20 million, McLaren Regional Medical Center $20 million, and Rowe Professional Services $1.25 million, bringing the total fund to approximately $641.25 million by the time Judge Levy granted final approval on November 10, 2021. The settlement covered qualifying residents exposed to Flint water between April 2014 and August 2016, with approximately 80 percent of the compensation fund directed to victims who were under 18 during that period. More than 50,000 claimants enrolled.