Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

Flint's ongoing water crisis spilled into a federal courtroom today as city residents and civil rights groups look to a judge for intervention, claiming state and city officials are taking too long to deliver clean drinking water to Flint, and they need to be pushed to move faster.

U.S. District Judge David Lawson heard arguments from both sides, including the state's contention that things aren't really moving that slowly, and that a 2½-month response time to an emergency request from last fall was reasonable.

"Depends on if you're trying to take a shower in your own home," Lawson quipped, triggering laughter in the courtroom.

More than 50 people packed Lawson's courtroom in downtown Detroit this morning for the first hearing in a lawsuit that seeks to force Michigan officials and the City of Flint to comply with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, including by replacing the city's lead service lines. The lawsuit, which was filed in January, also seeks a preliminary injunction, asking the court to order the delivery of bottled water to people’s homes as many Flint residents have transportation issues.

"The water in Flint is still not safe to drink right now," Dimple Chaudhary, an attorney with the National Resources Defense Council told the judge on behalf of Flint residents and civil rights groups. "There's an ongoing present harm from the continuing leaching of lead from the pipes."

According to the lawsuit, Flint’s tap water remains unsafe and is likely to remain undrinkable for months because of persistent lead contamination that was discovered after the city switched its water supply two years ago from Detroit to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. It has since been switched back.

State and Flint officials are seeking to dismiss the case, arguing efforts are already under way to fix the problem. According to Michigan officials, the Environmental Protection Agency has already issued an 18-page order mandating a remedy, and that city and state officials are complying with the order.

"We're doing what we were told," said Michael Murphy, an attorney who is representing the State of Michigan in the lawsuit. "There's no need for this lawsuit."

Chaudhary disagreed, arguing the EPA order "makes no findings about liability." Nor does it say anything about compliance, such as when or how the problem will be fixed, she said.

"It does not say anything about the replacement of lead lines," Chaudhary said. "We're not saying the EPA order isn't relevant ... it isn't relevant now."

E-mails: EPA indecision led to inaction in Flint crisis

A touchy issue also came up at the hearing: who's to blame for the crisis.

As part of his push to have the lawsuit dismissed, Murphy argued that state officials do not control the water system in Flint, but rather deal only with budgetary issues.

"We don't tell them how to operate their water system," Murphy said. "We don't test the water. We don't provide filters. We don't provide water bottles ... The City of Flint is the owner and operator of its public water system."

In the audience was Flint resident Abel Delgado, 18, who cringed at the state's arguments.

"The state keeps on passing the buck," said Delgado, noting the water crisis continues to fuel public mistrust of the government. "It's left an emotional scar on the people."

Flint resident Nayyirah Shariff, who also attended the hearing, agreed, arguing her city has suffered long enough at the hands of inept leaders.

"There needs to be a better way for people to get water," Shariff said. "The state Legislature is slow to act. They still have not allocated resources for us. ... We need relief. We need those lines replaced."

The ACLU of Michigan also has intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the Flint residents.

“Flint residents cannot afford for government leaders to continue offering slow, inadequate responses to a water crisis that government leaders themselves created,” said ACLU legal director Michael Steinberg said in a statement. "Given the magnitude of the harm that the state inflicted on the people of Flint, it’s hard to believe that state officials are arguing that they have no legal obligation to fix the problem.”

Added Chaudhary: “For more than two years, the water in Flint, Michigan, has not been safe to drink. Two years is too long to wait for safe tap water."

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com