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A decade after the Flint water crisis, these Boston residents are still campaigning for justice

About a dozen protesters demanded Violia, a corporation hired by Flint to assess the water system, be held accountable for what they said is their role in the crisis.

By Emily Spatz

April 25, 2024

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This story was updated April 29 to include information in a statement from Veolia.

On April 25, 2014, the former mayor of Flint, Mich., officially switched the city’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River, marking the start of a years-long health crisis for hundreds of thousands of city residents that drew national attention.

A decade later, about a dozen people gathered in Boston to protest corporations’ role in the crisis and demand justice for the people affected. 

“A lot of folks think the water crisis has been resolved, the unfortunate reality is that a decade has gone by and Flint still doesn’t have reliable access to safe drinking water,” said Neil Gupta, the water campaign director at Corporate Accountability. “Flint residents haven’t seen a penny of compensation for what they’ve gone through.”

Thursday’s demonstration, which was put on by the non-profit Corporate Accountability, specifically targeted Veolia, the world’s largest private water corporation. About a dozen protesters holding signs reading “Justice for Flint” and “Flint Not Fixed” stood in front of 53 State St., the North American headquarters of Veolia. 

What do protesters say is Veolia’s role in the crisis?

Veolia was one of the companies contracted in early 2015 to assess Flint’s drinking water system. A class action suit filed against the firm by Flint residents says the company failed to identify corroding pipes and acted too slowly to address water contamination, according to reporting by the Detroit Free Press. 

A $25 million settlement was reached in the suit in February, the Free Press reported, and did not include admission or liability or responsibility. But protesters at Thursday’s march demanded more reparations from the company.

Reporting by The Guardian in 2019 revealed that Veolia and city officials knew that lead from the city’s pipes could be leaching into drinking water, but Veolia did not recommend that the public stop drinking the city’s water. 

“Veolia executives told the city its water was safe despite privately acknowledging the potential for lead contamination — all while pursuing a separate contract to privatize the city’s water system,” Corporate Accountability said in a statement. 

“Veolia still refuses to admit any wrongdoing or guilt in this crisis,” said Keltie Vance, deputy campaigns director at Corporate Accountability. 

In a statement, Veolia said “the record shows” that the company had “no role in causing, prolonging or worsening the crisis in Flint.”

“We were hired by the City of Flint in February 2015 — nearly a year into the crisis — to conduct a one-week analysis of operation at the Flint Water Treatment Plant and to develop a report on their findings and recommendations,” the company said. “Tragically for the people of Flint, Veolia North America’s recommendations were ignored by the politicians and bureaucrats in charge, who prioritized saving money over the health and well-being of Flint residents.”

Consequences from the crisis are ongoing

After the City switched its water supply to the Flint River in 2014 for cost cutting measures, Flint residents reported foul tasting, discolored water. Tests of the water afterward showed elevated level of carcinogens, including lead, but city officials continued to tell residents it was safe to drink.

Over the course of several years, thousands of people were sickened and 12 died from drinking contaminated water. Residents of the city also reported increased behavioral health issues, anxiety and depression, and worsened physical health, according to the CDC.

On Thursday, protesters said their main demands were that Veolia owns up to its role in the crisis and stops fighting legal battles about money owed to residents. They also said they wanted Michigan’s Attorney General Dana Nessel to hold the corporation legally responsible; replace all lead pipes in Flint; and meet with community members in Flint to hear their concerns. 

“No amount of money can undo the harm that’s been done to the people of Flint, and it won’t undo the abuses,” Neil Gupta, the water campaign director at Corporate Accountability, told Boston.com.

In March, a federal court held the City of Flint in contempt for violating a federal court order requiring the city to reach certain milestones in its lead pipe replacement program. Residents in some homes are still waiting for the city to check their pipes and remove them, according to the National Resource Defense Council.

Veolia stands by its work in Flint

Also on Thursday, Veolia Environment shareholders met in Paris. Gupta called the contrast of the meeting with the 10th anniversary of the Flint water crisis stark.

“That contrast could not be sharper,” Gupta said.

“While the people of Flint mark 10 years of trauma and living without reliable access to safe, Violia is talking about the tens of billions of dollars of revenue it raked in last year alone,” Vance said at the protest.

Veolia, however, says it stands by its work in Flint. 

“VNA made good recommendations, including a crucial one on corrosion control, that would have helped the City had those recommendations not been almost entirely ignored by the responsible government officials,” the company said in a February press release announcing the class action settlement. 

In 2022, a mistrial was declared when jurors couldn’t reach a verdict on whether Veolia and Lockwood, Andrews and Norman, an engineering firm, bore responsibility in Flint’s crisis.

“Veolia did nothing wrong in Flint, and the contrary claims made by the protesters have never been validated through any legal process,” the company said.

Speakers at the demonstration pointed to environmental racism and injustice in the management of the Flint water crisis. Flint, which had a population of about 100,000 at the time of the crisis, was —and still is — a majority Black community and has a relatively high poverty rate. 

“Conversations of environmental justice are especially important in a city like Boston, which has a long history of redlining and consistent marginalization of minority population,” said Chris Mesfin, a student at Harvard and environmental organizer. “The action that should be taken for Flint applies to the environmental justice community in Boston, the U.S. and across the world.”