TOXIC TORT-URING THE PEOPLE OF FLINT, MICHIGAN

Abstract

The Flint Water Crisis is a public health crisis that has touched nearly everyone in the Flint, Michigan community for years. Despite the extent of the harm that this crisis has caused, Flint victims have had trouble acquiring legal redress. This paper examines the Flint Water Crisis through the lens of toxic torts to assess the adequacy and accessibility of legal remedies in this area of the law. There are multiple common obstacles that victims of the Flint Water Crisis have encountered while seeking legal remedies, such as sovereign immunity, proving causation, and access to justice. These obstacles have also been encountered in situations similar to the Flint Water Crisis, which puts the issues with the U.S. toxic tort system, more broadly, into perspective. This paper concludes that there are approaches that legal representatives of Flint victims can implement in future lawsuits to avoid encountering these common problems. While these adjustments in approach would theoretically help the people of Flint succeed in their lawsuits, it is also important to note that the Flint community is one of the most impoverished in the regions, which is a difficult obstacle to circumvent and might prevent them from getting legal representation nonetheless.