Flint, Michigan (PRWEB) December 14, 2016
More than seventy (70) residents of Flint, Michigan jointly filed Complaints in the Genesee County Circuit Court (Case No. 16-108272-NZ), and in the State of Michigan Court of Claims (16-000298-MZ), for physical, psychological, and property damages, sustained as a result of the contaminated water supplied to them in Flint.
According to the suit, defendants include the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ); the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS); The City of Flint Emergency Manager; The State of Michigan and the Governor; as well as private contractors retained by the State.
According to court documents, in addition to seeking compensation for medical injuries, the alleged loss and interference with the quality of their lives from the lack of clean water to drink, cook with, wash in, and otherwise use, the plaintiffs seek remedies related to alleged psychological damages. The suit states that these include counseling, intervention and treatment to cope with the mental health effects of lead poisoning.
According to the suit, the residents have also sued for injunctive relief pursuant to the Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (MNREPA), alleging that under the MNREPA, response activity as defined by the Act, requires the State to “take actions necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare 'including' health assessments or health effect studies carried out under the supervision, or with the approval of the Department of Public Health”. Injunctive relief may be sought when necessary to prevent irreparable harm to the public’s health, safety and welfare when a person “whose health or enjoyment of the environment is, or may be adversely affected”.
The contamination of Flint’s water supply with lead, and other toxins, has allegedly caused serious long term injury to persons and property. According to court documents, lead exposure, especially in children, can allegedly lead to a host of physical injuries, including damage to the nervous system, hyperactivity, lower IQ, learning disabilities, impaired hearing, anemia and renal conditions. Exposure to other toxins allegedly caused Legionaries disease, skin rashes, and other illnesses.
Esther Berezofsky and Mark Cuker, partners with the national environmental law firm Williams Cuker Berezofsky, LLC, represent the residents. Also, a clinical psychologist, Berezofsky has studied the impact of environmental disasters on communities, most notably the Three Mile Island and Times Beach Missouri dioxin disasters.
Williams Cuker Berezofsky has represented, and is committed to pursuing justice for individuals and communities with environmental issues for over thirty years. They were lead counsel in the Toms River, New Jersey children’s cancer cluster case portrayed in the Pulitzer prize-winning book “Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation” by Dan Fagin. They currently represent residents in Fresno, California, Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh, New York, Pennsylvania and other communities around the country.
For more information, call the firm at 215-557-0099 or visit their website at http://www.wcblegal.com/.
