On March 8th, 2016, two Genesee County Jail detainees filed this lawsuit on behalf of themselves and other detainees in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The plaintiffs sued the Sheriff of Genesee County under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The plaintiffs, represented by the Civil Rights Clinic of Michigan State University, sought class certification, declaratory relief, injunctive relief requiring the Genesee County Jail to provide safe and clean water to all detainees, and attorneys’ fees and costs. The plaintiffs claimed that the Genesee County Jail provided detainees with toxic water for consumption, bathing, and food preparation in violation of the Fourteenth and Eighth Amendments.

Specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that the defendant did not provide safe and clean water to detainees, impacting their health. The plaintiffs alleged that the Sheriff had overwhelming evidence that the water was unsafe to drink and caused lead poisoning after Genesee County officials declared a public health emergency on October, 1, 2015. The health concerns relating to the toxic water of Flint included hypertension, autoimmune disorders, neurological disorders, and psychological disorders. After providing only a nine day supply of bottled water to detainees, the Jail required that detainees return to drinking, bathing, and cooking with the toxic tap water. The plaintiffs alleged that the Sheriff made the decision to return to using toxic tap water for fiscal reasons. The plaintiffs estimated that 500 individuals were detained at any one time in Jail, and thus subjected to toxic water. This is one of many cases that arose from the Flint Water Crisis. Many cases relating to this crisis were condensed into one class action lawsuit, Waid v. Snyder. This case proceeded independently. For another suit involving the Genesee County Jail but seeking damages, please see Hatcher v. Genesee County.

On April 6, 2016, the complaint was amended to include an additional plaintiff (another detainee) and an additional defendant (the Captain in charge of the internal workings of the Jail). On June 23, 2016, the lawsuit was resolved via a consent decree granted by District Judge Avern Cohn. In the decree, the defendants maintained that detainees had not consumed toxic water. The decree required defendants to provide detainees with water that is not contaminated by lead for drinking and cooking, meaning the water contains less than fifteen parts per billion of lead contaminants. Additionally, the decree required defendants to test the water in five locations within the Jail every fourteen days for an eight week period, sending copies to the plaintiffs’ counsel. If the tests showed that the lead levels were safe, the defendants were allowed to supply water from the Flint water system to detainees for all uses. The consent decree was set to last for one year. (The decree would also terminate if Michigan or the Genesee County Health Department declared Flint’s water safe). There was no additional docket activity during the term of the consent decree, and the case is now closed.

Olivia Vigiletti - 10/23/2019


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