Flint Inmates Were Forced to Drink Contaminated Water, New Lawsuit Alleges

They blame the jail administrator and the county sheriff.

Moussa81/Getty

A few months after the water was officially declared to be safe, a new federal lawsuit is alleging that inmates at the Genesee County jail in Flint, Michigan, were forced to drink contaminated water during the city’s water crisis, because jail officials believed that the inmates didn’t deserve clean drinking water.

Over 90 plaintiffs, who are being represented by three lawyers, have filed suit against Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell and Jason Gould, the jail administrator. “Pickell and Gould subjected Plaintiffs to a special danger as distinguished from the public at large,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote in the suit. “With full knowledge that the water in the Genesee County Jail was contaminated, Defendants Pickell and Gould forced Plaintiffs to continue drinking the contaminated water.” 

The sheriff has yet to comment on the substance of the lawsuit, but he told the Detroit Free Press that “just because it’s being alleged, doesn’t make it true.”

The problems in Flint began in 2014, when emergency manager Darnell Earley oversaw the decision to switch the city’s water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River, in order to cut costs. Residents quickly noticed a difference. Because many homes were fitted with lead plumbing, improperly treated river water leached lead off the pipes and into taps across the city. There is no known safe level of lead, and lead poisoning can lead to developmental issues for children and damage to kidneys and nervous systems for adults.

After more than a year of denials from city and state officials, the water was switched back but the damage had already been done. At least 12 people died from a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that was linked to the toxic water, and thousands of children had elevated lead levels in their systems.

The lawsuit alleges that even after jail officials were aware that the water should not be consumed, Pickell and Gould “forced Plaintiffs to continue drinking the contaminated water.” Many of the inmates named in the suit say that family and friends tried to have water delivered to them, but jail staff did not allow them to receive it—forcing some inmates, including pregnant women, to drink contaminated tap water at the facility. A 2017 West Virginia University and Kansas University study found that the water crisis caused an increase in fetal deaths and miscarriages in Flint. 

There have been no studies examining the effect of the drinking water on those who had been incarcerated during that time, but the suit claims that “plaintiffs suffered severe and permanent injuries” during that time. Some of the injuries listed in the suit include hair, skin, digestive, and organ problems, and the aggravation of preexisting conditions.

The plaintiffs are also alleging that they were tricked into drinking contaminated water, when jail officials told them that the water had been switched back to Lake Huron—one year before that was actually true. “Pickell and Gould knowingly permitted their employees and/or agents to lie to Genesee County Jail inmates to convince them to drink contaminated water,” lawyers said in the filing.

Eventually, the state and county began delivering clean water to the jail, but the lawsuit alleges that Pickell and Gould “arbitrarily and inhumanely” allowed inmates only two half-liter bottles of water a day, markedly less than the 2.7 liters for women and 3.7 liters for men that the Mayo Clinic recommends. According to the lawsuit, inmates were eventually allowed to purchase water at the commissary, but those who were unable to afford it had no option but to continue drinking water they knew was unhealthy.

Today, local officials say the water is safe to drink, but many residents throughout the city still don’t trust what is coming out of their taps. 

The inmates allege that the denial of water and the subsequent injuries caused are in violation of their civil rights and the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Conrad Benedetto, one of the attorneys on the case, says the lawyers filed this lawsuit in order to “hold the defendants accountable for their conduct and to remind them that they are not above the law.”

More Mother Jones reporting on Climate Desk

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate