A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday approved a settlement requiring state officials to replace water lines serving at least 18,000 homes in Flint, Michigan over the next three years to address a crisis that exposed residents to lead in their drinking water.
Under the settlement approved by U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Detroit, the state will pay $87 million to identify and replace the service lines containing lead or galvanized steel by 2020, according to court documents. An additional $10 million is being held in reserve.
The deal marked a major agreement to replace piping that played a significant role in Flint’s 2015 water crisis that prompted dozens of lawsuits and criminal charges against former government officials.
“In my view the settlement agreement is fair, adequate, reasonable and consistent with the public interest and it furthers the objectives of the safe water drinking act,” Lawson said from the bench, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The settlement is the result of a lawsuit filed last year by Concerned Pastors for Social Action, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the American Civil Liberties Union and a Flint resident against state and city officials.
