LANSING, Mich. _ Michigan will allocate $87 million for the city of Flint to identify and replace at least 18,000 unsafe water lines by 2020 under a proposed settlement of a federal lawsuit that also provides the state with a road map to end free distribution of bottled water.
The proposed settlement also requires the state to pay $895,000 to the plaintiffs who brought the 2016 lawsuit, to cover their litigation costs.
U.S. District Judge David Lawson is to hold a hearing Tuesday to consider the agreement, which was the result of mediation. Lawson is expected to approve the agreement, subject to his oversight of its enforcement.
Concerned Pastors for Social Justice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Michigan ACLU and Flint resident Melissa Mays don't get the door-to-door delivery of bottled water they had been seeking in recent months. But the plaintiffs get a schedule for water line replacements while the state gets a schedule for weaning the city of Flint off the community resource stations where bottled water, water filters and filter replacement cartridges are now distributed free of charge.
Some _ but not all _ of the money the state allocates can come from funding approved by the federal government.
Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014, when a state-appointed emergency manager, as a short-term cost-cutting measure, switched the city's drinking water supply from Lake Huron water treated in Detroit to Flint River water treated at the Flint Water Treatment Plant. The Department of Environmental Quality has acknowledged a mistake in failing to require the use of corrosion control chemicals as part of the treatment process. Corrosive water caused lead to leach from joints, pipes and fixtures, causing a spike in toxic lead levels in the blood of Flint children and other residents.
Flint switched back to Detroit water in October 2015, but some risk remains because of damage to the city's water distribution infrastructure.
Under the proposed settlement:
_The city, compensated by the state, agrees to determine the composition of lines running from the street into at least 18,000 households and properties, and replace with copper those made of lead or galvanized steel, at no cost to the homeowners.
_The agreement calls for replacement of 6,000 lines by Jan. 1, 2018, and at least 6,000 more lines each of the two following years, with all lines covered by the agreement replaced by Jan. 1, 2020.
_The agreement does not call for door-to-door bottled water delivery, which the plaintiffs had sought, but calls for residents to be able to call the 2-1-1 city phone number and receive free water deliveries within 24 hours. The service can be discontinued if water monitoring for the six-month period ending June 30 is below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "action level" for lead, the agreement says.
_The agreement requires the state and city to continue to operate at least nine community water resource sites, where residents can pick up bottled water, water filters and cartridges, until May 1. It permits the state to close three centers between May 1 and June 1, but only if demand has dropped off, and close up to two additional centers between June 1 and July 1, again if demand has dropped off.
_The state won't be required to operate any water distribution centers after Sept. 1, provided water monitoring for the six-month period ending June 30 is below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "action level" for lead.
_The state will expand its program of water filter education, installation and maintenance. The state will make its best efforts to have at least 90 filter education specialists at work throughout the city, eight hours per day, Monday through Saturday, with specialists also available on Sundays by appointment and for follow-up.
_The state will advertise the work of the filter specialists on TV, radio and other media, including ads in Spanish.
_The state will provide the city with filter replacement cartridges so that residents will have free filter cartridges to use for one year after the replacement of their lead or galvanized steel water lines.
_The state will continue its Medicaid expansion for Flint residents _ covering pregnant women and children under 21 years old up to 400 percent of the poverty level _ through March 2021.
_The state will continue elevated blood level case management services, for children with elevated blood levels, plus other services for children and nutrition services, through September 2018.
_Abandoned households are not covered by the agreement, though any household with an active water account on the effective date of the agreement is covered, even if the water bill is overdue.
_The agreement calls for extensive water monitoring following the line replacements to ensure the water is safe to drink, including the use of a third-party independent monitor. It also calls for extensive public reporting.
