When it was discovered in 2019 that the city of Flint, MI, had exposed its residents to lead and possibly Legionella bacteria, it made national news. The city’s decision to shift its water supply from treated water from Detroit to water from the contaminated Flint River to save money seemed like a classic example of bad management, without care of the health or wellbeing of Flint’s largely working-class population. Lawsuits followed, in which Napoli Shkolnik was a court appointed co-liaison counsel, but by the time a settlement of over $640M was announced the national news had largely moved on.
Legal fights take time, and over the course of fighting on behalf of Flint’s residents several lessons become very clear.
First, when government officials break the law, it can make finding the truth very difficult. By the end of the investigation into Flint’s drinking water, government officials were charged with crimes, including 34 felonies and seven misdemeanors; and officials from the municipal level to the federal government had resigned from their jobs. That level of criminality within government created obstacles to the effort to win relief for city residents that plaintiff’s attorneys had to overcome.
Second, when dealing with a highly public issue with a significant settlement, it’s imperative for attorneys to remain vigilant throughout the process. In the Flint experience, for example, even after negotiating a $640M+ settlement, strange letters started showing up in the mailboxes of Flint residents encouraging them to reject the agreement. Those letters, it turned out, had been sent by an attorney who did not disclose that he was working on other legal issues related to the Flint water crisis, and they created confusion for residents who desperately needed relief.
Most importantly, the lesson we all should learn from Flint is that there’s no substitute for making investments in infrastructure when they’re needed. The cost of choosing the “cheap” solution to deliver drinking water to Flint’s residents resulted in far more expense than the city would have incurred if it had continued to get water from Detroit, not to mention the suffering it created to residents who will now have to live with the long-term effects of lead poisoning. When governments fail to keep their residents safe, the work of attorneys like the Napoli Shkolnik team that represented Flint plaintiffs is essential, as it rights the wrongs that have been done and creates a compelling reason for other government bodies to take their obligations more seriously.