State Refuses to Uphold Terms of Settlement Agreement, Mayor Weaver Responds

FLINT, Mich. — Flint Mayor, Karen Weaver was informed via letter from the state Attorney General’s office on Thursday, Nov. 1, that the state is refusing to uphold terms of the settlement agreement reached in the Flint water crisis. Mayor Weaver had the following to say:

“Once again, I find myself having to defend why putting people over profit is the right thing to do. I find myself saying, again, that EVERY life in the city of Flint matters to me and I will not buckle on my position. Legally, we are well within our rights to refuse to do hydro-excavation, and we will continue to exercise that right.” said Weaver in a statement.

“I really am having a hard time believing that the MDEQ does not get that I will not sacrifice any life, not one, for any amount of money. The MDEQ would like to keep having a discussion about cost, so fine, let’s have a discussion about cost. MDEQ’s negligence cost the residents more than any amount of money can ever repay. That same negligence rears its ugly head with every letter demanding we use unsafe methods to replace service lines.

In addition to that demand, they seem to ignore that this method has missed homes. If the goal of replacing service lines is to give every resident in the city of Flint safe drinking water that they can trust, then how dare the MDEQ dismiss even one resident who was missed due to hydro-excavation, 7 were missed, that we know of. Which employee of the MDEQ would like to sign up to drink lead for the rest of their lives, to sign their children or another loved one up to drink lead for the rest of their lives? Feel free to switch living arrangements with one of the residents that you are suggesting (by continuously dismissing the flaws in hydro-excavation) it is ok that their home was misidentified.

The city of Flint is not violating the terms of the settlement agreement which allows the city to choose its method of excavation. The state is refusing to uphold its end of the agreement by refusing to pay.”