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Jackson Residents Fight Back, Claiming Officials Neglected The City’s Water for Decades

Last Friday, Jackson, Mississippi, residents filed a civil class action lawsuit alleging officials "neglected" the city's water supply for decades.

Itโ€™s been almost a week since the Mississippi state government officially lifted the boil water advisory in Jackson. But, for residents whoโ€™ve faced water contamination and frequent water shutoffs year after year, their fight for clean water is far from over.

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Last Friday, Jackson residents filed a civil class action lawsuit against The City of Jackson, Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba; Tony Yarber; Kishia Powell; Robert Miller; Jerriot Smash; Siemens Corporation; Siemens Industry, Inc.; and Trilogy Engineering Services LLC.

Several of the named defendants are former city officials.

The lawsuit alleges that officials and companies tasked with maintaining the water supply โ€œneglectedโ€ the system for decades, culminating in the massive water shutdown in August of this year. But that even before the shutdown, water in Jackson, which is over 82% Black, was โ€œnot fit for human consumption.โ€

The City of Jackson declined to comment on pending litigation. And Siemens and Trilogy Engineering Services LLC did not respond to requests for comment by publication.

Priscilla Sterling, a grandmother and lead plaintiff in the case, has witnessed the crisis play out over the last three decades first-hand, according to the lawsuit.

For nearly 30 years, she says that she and her family drank, bathed, and brushed their teeth with water from the cityโ€™s tap, never once imagining that it could be poisonous.

That was until, the lawsuit alleges, she and her family began to show symptoms of lead poisoning.

According to the lawsuit, several of Sterlingโ€™s children have been diagnosed with lead poisoning. And Sterling herself suffers from frequent headaches.

And while one might imagine that this cluster of lead poisoning cases might warrant an investigation into potential lead in the pipes, according to the lawsuit, she hasnโ€™t been able to get anyone to come to check her water for lead.

The more immediate water crisis this summer also had a huge impact on residentโ€™s health and well-being, according to the lawsuit.

Raine Becker, a single-mother of a seven year-old with a terminal illness, was unable to properly clean her sonโ€™s feeding tube for weeks due to the water shutoff.

Becker, who works as a delivery driver and at a laundromat, says that she was also hit financially during the shutdown because local restaurants were all forced to close and that she was unable to wash clothes without running water.

The shutdown in August โ€œis inexcusable,โ€ says Robert Gibbs, an attorney for the plaintiffs. Gibbs says that although residents could have brought a lawsuit at anytime, the August shutdown was definitely a catalyst for addressing the much larger issues with the cityโ€™s water supply.

โ€œThat was the tipping point,โ€ says Gibbs, who also lives in Jackson. โ€œThe entire purpose of this lawsuit is to get the system fixed once and for all.โ€

Gibbs sees whatโ€™s happening in this case as a much larger part of the struggle for civil rights that has often played out within the court system.

โ€œIโ€™m African American and Iโ€™ve seen how lawsuits have improved our access to voting, access to facilities, and transportation,โ€ says Gibbs. โ€œSo, unfortunately, you have to use lawsuits sometimes when you canโ€™t get your government officials to carry out their duties and responsibilities.โ€

Lawsuits like this one arenโ€™t unusual, says Sacoby Wilson, a Professor of Environmental Justice at The University of Maryland School of Public Health.

In 2016, residents of Flint, Michigan, sued several parties allegedly responsible for lead contamination in the water. They were later awarded a $626.25 million settlement.

โ€œThere are many tools in the toolbox that we can use, including lawsuits to get action to address environmental injustice and to address environmental apartheid,โ€ says Wilson. โ€œWhich is what we see in Jackson, Mississippi.โ€

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