Best views, weather, etc. How to test them 👓 SC, Ala. sites look back Betty Ford honored
NATION NOW
Flint water crisis

Judge to Mich.: You must deliver bottled water to Flint

Tresa Baldas
Detroit Free Press
Flint water treatment plant

DETROIT — On the same day that researchers said Flint's water is improving with "amazing progress," a federal judge delivered a legal blow to state officials in ordering them to deliver bottled water to the city whether they like it or not.

In a 12-page ruling, U.S. District Judge David Lawson ruled that Flint's water is still unsafe to drink for certain residents and that the state must deliver bottled water to those households without properly installed or maintained filters until the problem is cleared up.

Defendants in the case, Michigan Treasurer Nick Khouri and the state-appointed Flint Receivership Transition Advisory Board, had asked the court to stay that Nov. 10 order, arguing it was unreasonable, overly broad and too expensive — $10.5 million per month — to deliver bottled water door to door in Flint. Those officials, represented by attorneys from the office of Attorney General Bill Schuette, also had argued that bottled water can be picked up as needed at distribution centers and those who can't pick it up can call 211 to arrange for delivery.

For Lawson, that wasn't good enough.

The state defendants say "the current method of 'delivery,' whereby Flint residents must find a way to retrieve their own drinking water, and can use water filters that may or may not be installed and maintained correctly, is good enough," Lawson wrote. That "is incorrect."

Could Flint still sue Michigan over lead water crisis?

Lawson denied the state's request to stay the preliminary injunction, stressing: "Flint residents continue to suffer irreparable harm from a lack of reliable access to safe drinking water. This is more than a mere inconvenience; hunting for water has become a dominant activity in some residents' lives, causing anxiety, stress and financial hardship."

Lawson's decision came on the same day that researchers reported that Flint's water continues to improve. They found no detectable levels of lead in 57% of homes during another round of tests.

Marc Edwards of Virginia Tech, a scientist who revealed Flint’s high lead levels in 2015, said on Friday that the public health crisis is nearing an end, though he urged residents to continue to use filters on kitchen faucets until the old lines are replaced.

“It’s very likely folks will never be told the water is safe as long as those lead pipes are there,” Edwards said during a news conference at Virginia Tech.

Edwards, along with state and federal authorities, has repeatedly recommended filters or bottled water. Those continue to be distributed for free to Flint’s roughly 100,000 residents. At the same time, Flint is replacing water lines that go into homes, and hopes to hit 1,000 by the end of December. University of Michigan experts this week said lines at as many as 29,000 homes need to be replaced.

Contributing: Paul Egan, Detroit Free Press, and The Associated Press  

Featured Weekly Ad