Flint residents are closer to receiving compensation for the city’s drinking water crisis.
But they will still have to wait a bit longer.
In a report filed this week, Special Master Deborah Greenspan said the complicated and lengthy claims process is nearing an end.
As of January 8, 2025, 27,581 claims have been approved (for 25,516 individual claimants). Of the individual claimants, 12,170 were adults at the time of the water crisis and 13,346 were minors at the time of the water crisis.
Of the total claims approved, 15,363 are injury claims, 12,082 are properties that have been found eligible for payment, and 136 are business claims.
However, dividing the more than $600 million settlement pool is going to take a little bit longer.
Greenspan said some appeals and reconsiderations remain to be completed. As of December 20, 2024, the claims administrator had received 12,847 reconsideration requests.
According to the report, the Special Master has not yet issued payment notices to any law firm or individual claimant.
“Those notices will be issued as soon as possible in the near future,” Greenspan wrote in her report.
It’s been more than a decade since improperly treated water from the Flint River damaged aging pipes which leached lead into Flint’s drinking water.
In 2020, the state of Michigan agreed to pay $600 million into a settlement fund to pay off claims. The city of Flint, a local engineering firm, a local hospital and other businesses have agreed to join the settlement.
