A group of Jackson, Mississippi, residents filed a class-action lawsuit Friday over the water crisis that left over 150,000 people in the city without access to clean running water.
The suit is the first federal action that seeks class-action status to pursue damages "against various government and private engineering defendants" for the "neglect, mismanagement, and maintenance failures" that led to a complete shutdown of Jackson's water system last month, according to a news release.
The four named plaintiffs claim they suffered loss of income and emotional distress because of the city’s contaminated water, with some experiencing "various health problems" from consuming it — including dehydration, malnutrition, lead poisoning, brain injuries, hair loss and skin rashes — according to the lawsuit.
Becker said she didn't know about the city's water infrastructure issue until it made the news last month. “I have said on multiple occasions that it’s a not a matter of if our system would fail, but a matter of when our system would fail," he said at the time.Yarber, the former mayor, and Trilogy Engineering Services LLC didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
at the time. "It means the city cannot produce enough water to reliably flush toilets, fight fire and meet other critical needs." Chalos said officials' statements that the city's water is safe to drink haven’t necessarily won the trust of all residents.