domnicky/iStockBy AARON KATERSKY, SASHA PEZENIK and ELLA TORRES, ABC News
(DETROIT) — The state of Michigan will pay victims of the Flint water crisis $600 million as compensation, sources confirmed to ABC News.
The settlement would pay claims from several lawsuits that sought damages for people who suffered illnesses related to the crisis.
The majority of the settlement, about 80%, will go towards minors.
It’s estimated that tens of thousands of schoolchildren in Flint were exposed to toxic heavy metals in the city’s water.
Some 8,000 children are believed to have some level of lead poisoning in the city, while 150 people died from Legionnaires Disease, according to ABC Detroit affiliate WXYZ-TV.
The settlement comes six years after city and state officials allowed lead from old pipes to leak into the residents’ drinking water. Some of those pipes have still not been replaced, with the coronavirus pandemic halting the work for several months.
The announcement on the settlement is expected to be made public on Friday.
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