Great Lakes Law

Federal appeals court allows Flint residents’ claims against state officials for violation of the constitutional right to bodily integrity

In a win for Flint residents and environmental justice, the federal Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has ruled that the actions of government – notably MDEQ officials and state-appointed emergency managers – “shocked the conscience” and may violate citizens’ right to bodily integrity as guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment. The court’s decision - Guertin v. Michigan, 912 F. 3d 907 (6th Cir. 2019) - reasons that water... Read more →

Federal appeals court opens the door to Constitutional claims against state officials for dangerous and inaccessible drinking water in Flint

A federal appeals court has allowed two lawsuits by Flint residents against state officials for Constitutional violations arising from the Flint water crisis to go forward, giving victims a big legal win with even bigger implications. In Boler v. Earley and Mays v. Snyder, 865 F.3d 391 (6th Cir. 2017), cert. denied, 583 U.S. __ (2018), the court held that alleged violations of substantive due process and equal protection could be brought in federal court... Read more →

Flint water crisis litigation – resources and pleadings

A listing of key resources and pleadings from Flint water crisis litigation (updated and current). 1.Background – what happened in Flint, how, and why: US EPA, Emergency Administrative Order re City of Flint, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and the State of Michigan (January 2016) http://www.greatlakeslaw.org/Flint/EPA_Emergency_Administrative_Order.pdf US EPA, Office of Inspector General, Management Alert: Drinking Water Contamination in Flint, Michigan, Demonstrates a Need to Clarify EPA Authority to Issue Emergency Orders to Protect the Public... Read more →

Flint residents reach settlement with state to replace lead pipes within three years

Flint residents and public interest organizations have entered a settlement agreement with the state to replace lead pipes within 3 years and provide additional testing and monitoring of drinking water. This resolves the federal Safe Drinking Water Act citizen suit, Concerned Pastors for Social Action v. Khouri, and the ongoing fight over the court-ordered bottled water delivery in Flint. The court has approved the settlement agreement and will retain jurisdiction to ensure compliance. The Natural... Read more →

The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint – Report of the Michigan Civil Rights Commission

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission has just released a major report, The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint. Oday Salim, Senior Attorney at the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, testified before the Commission and authored the following guest post on the Commission’s report. The Flint Water Crisis: Systemic Racism Through the Lens of Flint is not just another recycled indictment of government officials with all the accompanying horrid details of the... Read more →

Federal court orders the state to deliver bottled water and inform residents about lead contamination in Flint’s drinking water

“In modern society, when we turn on a faucet, we expect safe drinking water to flow out. As the evidence shows, that is no longer the case in Flint. The Flint water crisis has in effect turned back the clock to a time when people traveled to central water sources to fill their buckets and carry the water home.” – U.S. District Court Judge David M. Lawson, Opinion and Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary... Read more →

An American Reset - Safe Water & a Workable Model of Federalism

The following guest post is by Professor Cara Cunningham Warren of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Professor Warren’s background includes both domestic litigation and U.S.-Canadian law, and she is currently an LL.M. candidate at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Her recent article, An American Reset—Safe Water & a Workable Model of Federalism is forthcoming in the Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum. In the article, Professor Warren explains the Flint... Read more →

Safe Drinking Water: A Tale of Three Cities - Sixteenth Annual Great Lakes Water Conference at University of Toledo College of Law

Safe drinking water will be the focus of the 16th Annual Great Lakes Water Conference on Friday, November 4, 2016 at the University of Toledo College of Law. Todd Flood, Special Counsel for the Michigan Attorney General Flint water crisis investigation (and a Toledo Law alum) will open the conference with a keynote speech, followed by a panel I’m moderating that will explore the situation and legal developments in Flint in more detail (with NRDC... Read more →

Michigan court allows claims against the state for violating Constitutional rights to bodily injury from the Flint water crisis to go forward

In one of the first court decisions on the Flint water crisis, Mays v. Snyder, the Michigan Court of Claims has ruled that a major class action based on the state’s alleged violation of individual rights to bodily integrity under substantive due process can proceed. The court’s opinion begins with a detailed factual background based on allegations which would give rise to valid claims against the state for causing the Flint water crisis and state... Read more →

Attorney General Bill Schuette on behalf of the People of the State of Michigan v. Veolia North America, Inc. et al. – Pleadings

Attorney General Bill Schuette, on behalf of the People of the State of Michigan, has filed a civil action against Veolia North America, Inc., Veolia North America, LLC, Veolia Water North America Operating Services, LLC, and Veolia Environnement, S.A. (collectively known as Veolia) and Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, P.C., Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam, Inc., and Leo A. Daly Company (collectively known as LAN) for their roles in the events known as the Flint Water Crisis,... Read more →

The Flint Water Crisis, KWA and Strategic-Structural Racism – Guest post by Professor Peter Hammer

The following guest post is by my colleague Professor Peter Hammer, Director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne Law. In his testimony before the Michigan Civil Rights Commission last week, Professor Hammer offers an explanation of the causes and methods behind the Flint water crisis that goes far deeper than the standard account. (The Flint Water Crisis, KWA and Strategic-Structural Racism is also available on SSRN.) He explains why and... Read more →

Appointment as Special Assistant Attorney General for the Flint water investigation

I've been appointed Special Assistant Attorney General for Michigan, joining the Special Counsel team for the Flint water investigation. The team is led by Todd Flood, a tenacious and experienced former prosecutor with a superb record of jury trials. Andrew Arena, the former director of the Detroit FBI office, has also been appointed to the investigation team. The appointment of the Special Counsel team to investigate and potentially prosecute is necessary because the Michigan Attorney... Read more →

Litigating the Flint water crisis – an overview of the lawsuits and legal action

Lawsuits have started over the Flint water crisis, with several prominent public interest organizations and law firms filing complaints in federal and state courts. This post provides an overview of the lawsuits filed, and I expect to update it as more come in. As we’ve seen in other major environmental disasters, the legal action is coming from three directions, pretty much following the textbook, but with a few wrinkles: Class actions and torts, coupled with... Read more →