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Lawsuit filed against major banks tied to Flint water supply

"Old Water Faucet" by Rubén Díaz Alonso is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

A lawsuit filed on behalf of more than two thousand children in Flint alleges that three investment banks knew using the city’s river as a water supply could expose kids to high levels of lead.

In 2014 Flint temporarily switched it's drinking water supply to the Flint River while the city waited to join a group building a pipeline to Lake Huron.  

The banks JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Stifel  Nicolas and Company underwrote the bonds funding the pipeline. 

But the Flint River water was not properly treated and lead leached into the city’s drinking supply exposing residents to toxins known to cause health problems that are irreversible in children.  

The suit claims the banks were aware using the river water could hurt children but went ahead with financing the project anyway.