Flint residents file class action lawsuits over 'poisoned city'

Residents of Flint, the city struggling with a poisoned water supply, have filed two new class action lawsuits against the governor and his senior officials - accusing them of failing to protect up to 100,000 people.

The suits were filed against Governor Rick Snyder, former Flint emergency managers Darnell Earley and Jerry Ambrose, the state Department of Environmental Quality and the state Department of Health & Human Services.

“This class action is being brought by four very brave people,” lawyer Michael Pitt said at a meeting in Flint. “They will be working with the attorneys to push this forward.”

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The city has been reeling after it emerged that the population of 100,000 had been poisoned by excessive levels of lead seeping into the water. Campaigners say senior officials failed to protect residents and instead chose to save money, despite knowing the risks from crumbling infrastructure.

On Sunday, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the situation in the city was a cause for national shame.

“Every single American should be outraged. If the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it, there would have been action,” she said.

On Monday, Mr Snyder, who is due to deliver a “state of the state” speech, responded to the criticism and accused Ms Clinton of making it a political issue.

Following a speaking engagement at a Martin Luther King Day event in Flint, the Republican governor said Ms Clinton’s comments did not help solve the problem.

“We’re going to keep working on putting solutions in place,” Mr Snyder told The Detroit News.

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“And what I would say is: politicising the issue doesn't help matters. Let's focus in on the solution and how to deal with the damage that was done and help the citizens of Flint and make Flint a stronger community.”

The Associated Press said that the city’s crisis began in 2014 when a state-appointed emergency manager — put into the role to administer the financially troubled city in place of the elected government — switched Flint from Detroit water to Flint River water to save money.

The corrosive water caused lead to leach from old pipes. Flint returned to the Detroit system in October after elevated lead levels were discovered in children.

But officials remain concerned that damaged pipes could continue to leach lead, which can cause behavior problems and learning disabilities in children as well as kidney ailments in adults.

Mr Snyder declared a state of emergency in Flint earlier this month. On Saturday, President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration but denied Mr Snyder’s request for a disaster declaration based on the legal requirement that such relief is intended for natural events, fires, floods or explosions.

Among those named in the class action lawsuit is Keith Pemberton, a Flint resident who is now getting ready for a legal battle.

“Everybody in the city has been poisoned, everybody,” Mr Pemberton, who lives with his wife, daughter and three grandchildren, told Fox News.

“After 30 days the lead leaves your blood stream and goes into the organs of your body It takes about 10-15 years for it to do its maximum damage. We all got death sentences, simple as that.”