Flint activist says settlement doesn’t fix the issue but proves the injustice
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Flint, MI (WNEM) — Flint activist and resident Melissa Mays says the Flint Water Crisis still haunts her family.
“It will go to pay medical bills, the credit cards I’ve had to take out for my teeth, my health care, all my medications, my kids need tutors,” Mays said.
And now she’s sounding off on the recent state settlement which would give residents impacted by the water crisis $ 600 million.
“We’re tired,” Mays said. “We need to be able to find a recovery. So, as long as this isn’t going to take away from anybody, we could use it to buy water filtration systems for our homes, replace interior plumbing.”
But dividing up the money between over 20,000 people, Mays says no one is going to get rich.
But she said that it’s a starting off point to show that what was done to Flint was an injustice.
“Most of the money will go towards settling claims filed on behalf of children in Flint,” she said.
The settlement breaks down like this, after attorney fees and expenses, children in Flint who were exposed will get 79.5 percent of the money. 64% will go to children under 5. Adults and property owners will get 18% of the payout and businesses will get 0.5% and finally 2% will go to programmatic relief.
Attorneys on the case say it’s still unclear how much each person would get in this settlement.
“Until we know the full breath and the full scope of individuals who will be participating, both minors and adults, it’s not going to be known specifically. But we do know the system is going to be fair,” Attorney Ted Leopold said.
Mays says even it doesn’t fix what has been broken but this money could help.
“We still don’t know how this is going to impact us, but this is a piece, but also that it says what was done to Flint was wrong and it was done to Flint. And hopefully cities and states hopefully across the country and world that it’s not ok to poison people.”
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