Concerned Pastors for Sacial Action Litigation, 1-27-16
- From
- Frederick Feaden
Importance: High
Frank:
Please find attached a copy of a complaint entitled Concerned Pastors for Social Action, Melissa Mays, ACLU,
and Natural Resources Defense Council v State Treasurer, Flint RTAB, and Flint City Administrator. The case
appears to have been filed this morning in United States District Court, Eastern District. I received a copy of the
complaint by e-mail a short time ago.
You will recall that plaintiffs served a Notice of Intent to Sue upon the defendants and your Office on November
16, 2015. In addition to the State Treasurer, Flint RTAB members, and City Administrator, the Notice of Intent
to Sue also listed as defendants the Governor, now former DEQ Director Dan Wyant, and Flint Mayor Weaver.
The latter three officials have been dropped from the filed complaint.
Please consider this e-mail a request for legal representation for the State Treasurer and Flint RTAB members.
Should you need further information or wish to discuss, let me know. Thanks.
Fred
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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION
CONCERNED PASTORS FOR
SOCIAL ACTION; MELISSA MAYS;
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES
UNION OF MICHIGAN; and
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE
COUNCIL, INC.,
Plaintiffs,
v. Case No. 16-10277
NICK A. KHOURI, in his official Hon.
capacity as Secretary of Treasury of
the State of Michigan; FREDERICK
HEADEN, in his official capacity as
Chairperson of the Flint Receivership
Transition Advisory Board;
MICHAEL A. TOWNSEND, in his
official capacity as Member of the
Flint Receivership Transition
Advisory Board; DAVID MCGHEE,
in his official capacity as Member of
the Flint Receivership Transition
Advisory Board; MICHAEL A.
FINNEY, in his official capacity as
Member of the Flint Receivership
Transition Advisory Board; BEVERLY
WALKER-GRIFFEA, in her official
capacity as Member of the Flint
Receivership Transition Advisory
Board; NATASHA HENDERSON, in
her official capacity as City
Administrator; and CITY OF FLINT,
Defendants. /
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COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF
INTRODUCTION
1. The water in Flint, Michigan is not safe to drink. It has not been
safe to drink since April 2014, when city and state officials began using the
Flint River as a source of drinking water and caused lead to leach into the
city’s water supply.
2. This case is about the government's failure to comply with the
federal law that requires cities to deliver safe drinking water to the public.
The Safe Drinking Water Act directs officials who operate water systems to
test drinking water for harmful contaminants and to treat the water to
control for those contaminants. City and state officials’ complete disregard
for those requirements is exposing the people of Flint to lead, a powerful
toxin that is devastating to the human body.
3. Flint was once a prosperous city with a strong economy built
around the automotive industry. But the closing and relocation of
automotive plants over the past thirty years hurt the city’s economy and
tax base, contributing to a shrinking population and resulting in increased
unemployment, poverty, and crime. Flint is now a struggling city. More
than forty percent of Flint residents live below the poverty level, and more
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than a quarter of its working-age residents are unemployed.
4. In November 2011, in response to Flint’s budget deficit and
mounting debt, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder declared a financial
emergency in the city. He stripped local elected officials of all of their
authority and installed a state-appointed Emergency Manager to take over
and run the city’s operations. The Emergency Manager was not removable
by Flint voters or otherwise accountable to the Flint electorate.
5. Tosave the city money, the Emergency Manager and other
state officials decided to switch the city’s drinking water source from Lake
Huron to the Flint River. The Flint River has long been known to residents
as a contaminated dumping ground for nearby industries. In making this
switch, city and state officials sent Flint River water flowing into the
homes, schools, and churches in Flint without following federal
requirements for treating and testing drinking water for lead.
6. These decisions have endangered the health of Flint’s residents.
When run through the city’s aging metallic pipes, the corrosive Flint River
water ate away at those pipes, causing lead to leach into drinking water.
The people of Flint have been exposed and are still being exposed to high
levels of lead in their water. In the past two years, the percentage of Flint
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children with elevated levels of lead in their blood has doubled and in
some areas has nearly tripled.
7. Flint residents began raising concerns about the safety of their
drinking water nearly two years ago. Government officials dismissed their
concerns and insisted that the water was safe to drink. State officials even
disregarded researchers’ findings that the water contained dangerously
high levels of lead. Not until a national spotlight was focused on Flint did
city and state officials belatedly acknowledge a problem.
8. Despite this far-too-late acknowledgement, the problems in
Flint have not been fixed. Public trust has been eroded by government
officials’ efforts to evade responsibility in this crisis. The damage done to
city pipes from the Flint River water means that lead will continue to
contaminate Flint’s drinking water. This contamination poses an ongoing
health risk to the city’s residents, especially young children, who are most
vulnerable to the effects of lead.
9. The harms suffered by Flint residents will not be addressed
until city and state officials properly treat Flint’s water to control lead,
properly test the water for lead contamination, promptly notify residents of
testing results, and report their activities to state regulators, all as required
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by the Safe Drinking Water Act.
10. Plaintiffs are individuals and citizens’ groups whose members
live in homes served by Flint’s water system. They bring this suit as
citizens to ensure that the water provided to their homes will no longer
threaten their health, and to address the medical and health harms they
have suffered.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
11. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action
pursuant to the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. § 300j-8(a), and the
federal-question jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The Court may
award Plaintiffs all necessary injunctive relief pursuant to the Safe
Drinking Water Act, 42 U.S.C. § 300j-8(a), (e), and declaratory relief
pursuant to the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2202.
12. Venue is proper in this district under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2)
because a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to
Plaintiffs’ claims occurred in this judicial district, in Flint, Michigan.
13. Plaintiffs have provided Defendants, the Administrator of the
US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Michigan Attorney
General with at least sixty days’ written notice of the violations of law
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alleged here in the form and manner required by the Safe Drinking Water
Act. 42 U.S.C. § 300j-8(b); 40 C.F.R. §§ 135.11-.13. A copy of Plaintiffs’
November 16, 2015 notice letter is attached as Exhibit A to this Complaint.
THE PARTIES
14. Plaintiffs consist of organizational plaintiffs Concerned Pastors
for Social Action (Concerned Pastors), American Civil Liberties Union of
Michigan (ACLU-MI), and Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
(NRDC), and individual plaintiff Melissa Mays.
15. Concerned Pastors is a nonprofit association of religious leaders
and congregations from more than thirty predominantly African American
churches and ministries in the City of Flint (City) and its surrounding
communities. The association was founded nearly fifty years ago to protect
the rights of the underserved and improve the lives of the people of Flint.
Concerned Pastors has been organizing and advocating for safe drinking
water in Flint for nearly two years. Its efforts include holding public rallies
and meetings, liaising with state and local elected officials, and distributing
thousands of cases of bottled water and water filters to community
members. Concerned Pastors is committed to protecting the health of
Flint’s children and families from the City’s contaminated drinking water.
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Concerned Pastors is organized under the laws of Michigan and has an
office address of 2200 Forest Hill, Flint, Michigan 48504.
16. Plaintiff ACLU-MI is a nonprofit organization founded in 1959.
ACLU-MI's mission is to protect the freedoms and rights of all Michigan
citizens. Through public education, advocacy, organizing, and litigation,
ACLU-MI works to guarantee the benefits of our nation’s laws to everyone.
ACLU-MI played a significant role in investigating the water problems in
Flint while the City was under emergency management and exposing the
lead contamination in its drinking water. ACLU-MI has approximately
9,000 members, more than ninety-five of whom live in Flint. ACLU-MI is
incorporated under the laws of Michigan and has an office address of 2966
Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48201.
17. Plaintiff NRDC is an international, nonprofit environmental
organization. NRDC engages in research, advocacy, and litigation to
protect public health and reduce the exposure of all communities to toxic
substances. NRDC’s work includes advocacy aimed at ensuring that all
Americans have access to safe and affordable drinking water that is free