Judge orders bottled water delivery in Flint

A federal judge has ordered the state of Michigan to deliver bottled water to residents in Flint while the city recovers from a drinking water crisis. 

The judge late Thursday issued an order saying Michigan and the city of Flint must deliver four cases of bottled water per resident to Flint per week, the Detroit Free Press reports. 

{mosads}Under the order, government officials are instructed to deliver the bottled water to homes in the city unless they can confirm those homes have proper filtration devices to clean drinking water. 

Flint is suffering through a water contamination crisis dating back to the 2014 decision to switch the city’s water supply from Detroit’s municipal system to the Flint River. The state didn’t establish proper corrosion controls during the switch, and the water began absorbing lead from old water infrastructure in the city, kicking off a health crisis there. 

The state has distributed water and water filtration devices in Flint, and Gov. Rick Snyder’s office told the Free Press it would continue to do so while it assesses the judge’s order. 

Government officials argued they don’t need to deliver bottled water in Flint because there are distribution centers throughout the city. They say water delivery would cost millions of dollars per month. 

But an assortment of groups — including the Concerned Pastors for Social Change, the ACLU, and the Natural Resources Defense Council — sued, seeking to expand the state’s delivery policy. 

“The plaintiffs have offered credible anecdotal evidence that indicates that the distribution network is in flux and not completely effective in providing safe drinking water to several households,” the judge wrote in his order.