Lead Poisoning Attorneys Sue to Hold Corporation Worth $11 Billion Accountable
Most residents of Flint do not know that some responsibility for the Flint Water Crisis falls on Veolia Environnement S.A., or Veolia Group, a multi-national environmental and water services firm. Valued at nearly $11 billion, Veolia earned over $26 billion in revenue in 2014, with greater than $12.5 billion from water services, and more than 60% of its water services revenue from consulting local government authorities, like Flint. In fact, in early 2015, Flint residents, taxpayers, paid Veolia $40,000.00 to study the water crisis and to make recommendations for ending it. But instead of addressing the quality and safety of the water, Veolia took a much easier path and focused simply on how to treat the water's discoloration.
Veolia was so bold it affirmatively told Flint residents the water was safe to drink.
The lawyers at Levy Konigsberg LLP ("LK") and Robinson, Carter & Crawford PLLC ("RCC"), recognizing that Veolia bears responsibility, have thus far filed 54 cases on behalf of 124 children poisoned by lead in Flint. LK in particular has more than a quarter century of experience litigating lead-poisoning cases, and has obtained over $100 million in verdicts and settlements on behalf of lead-poisoned children.
In early 2015, based on complaints from Flint Residents about their water quality, Veolia was hired to conduct a study regarding the water system. Initially, Rob Nicolas, Veolia's Vice President, said that his company would evaluate Flint's treatment plant, examine both the raw water and finished water, and "decide how it's getting through the pipe to the house." Yet a mere six days later, on February 12, 2015, the company issued a report noting that Flint's water was "in compliance with drinking water standards" and publically declared the city's water safe.
On March 12, 2015, a second report doubled down on the initial findings, declaring the water to be in compliance despite discoloration, and Veolia again declared the water is safe to drink. The report blamed the discoloration on a lack of corrosion control, noting that brown water flowing from resident's taps "primarily appears to be iron from old unlined cast iron pipes." Yet, despite recognizing that the corrosive water was causing metal from the pipes to leach into residents' water, and despite conducting a "160-hour assessment" of the Flint water system, the final report issued by Veolia only recommended that the city use polyphosphate to deal with the discoloration - and did not include the fact that the use of such a chemical could worsen lead corrosion. In fact, the report makes no mention of lead contamination at all.
The Veolia Group touts itself as a water management company, making "water fit for drinking," and treating water "for household use." So it is no small wonder why the company would issue a report ignoring the lead contamination problem and declaring that the water was "in compliance with drinking water standards."
You and your children deserve to be made whole for the harm this $11 billion corporation helped cause. If your child was exposed to water in Flint, contact us today through our website www.lead123.com or by dialing (888) 616-4538. We have already been contacted by parents of more than 1,000 children in Flint. Don't wait - contact us today to see if your child is entitled to compensation for lead poisoning.
