Firm announces $25M settlement over role in Flint, Michigan, lead-tainted water crisis

A second contractor says it has reached a $25 million settlement over its role in Flint, Michigan’s lead-contaminated water scandal

FLINT, Mich. -- A second contractor said Thursday that it has reached a $25 million settlement over its role in Flint, Michigan's lead-contaminated water scandal that officials say caused learning disabilities in scores of children and other medical problems among adults in the majority Black city.

The class-action litigation agreement includes payments of $1,500 for individual minors, according to Boston-based Veolia North America. The company says the agreement will resolve claims made on behalf of more than 45,000 Flint residents.

In July, the engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newman said in a court filing that a confidential deal was reached with residents in federal court. Like Veolia North America, Lockwood, Andrews & Newman had been accused of being partially responsible for the water crisis in the city about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of Detroit.

Flint, which was under state-appointed managers, used the Flint River for water in 2014-15, but the water wasn’t treated the same as water previously supplied by a Detroit-area provider. As a result, lead leached throughout the vast pipe system.

The state was sued because environmental regulators and other officials missed opportunities to fix Flint’s water problems during the lead crisis. Flint returned to a regional water supplier in the fall of 2015.