The U.S. state of Michigan has reached a settlement to pay about $600 million to victims of the Flint water crisis, the state’s attorney general and its governor announced on Thursday.
Most of the amount will be allocated for children who suffered from lead-tainted tapwater after officials switched the city’s water supply six years ago, the state’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, said in a statement.
The settlement is subject to approval by a federal judge in Michigan.
In January, the Supreme Court let Flint residents pursue a civil rights lawsuit that accused the city and government officials of knowingly allowing the water supply to become contaminated with lead.
Flint switched its public water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River to cut costs during a financial crisis. But the corrosive river water caused lead to leach from pipes, and the city switched back to Lake Huron water the following year.
More than 25,000 people were harmed through exposure to contaminants in Flint, including more than 5,000 children younger than 12, court records showed as of January.
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