Attorney breaks down ongoing Benton Harbor water crisis litigation on podcast

BENTON HARBOR. Mich. -- Eight years after a study found elevated lead levels in homes in Benton Harbor, litigation over the city’s water crisis remains ongoing.

Attorney Elizabeth McCree, who previously represented children in foster care during the Flint water crisis litigation, is now working to help Benton Harbor residents understand the legal process surrounding their own community’s water issues.

McCree, an attorney and professor at Andrews University, discussed the status of the cases Sunday on her podcast, “The Legal Hour.”

“After the Flint litigation, there was some testing done, and there were high levels, higher levels in Benton Harbor than even in the houses in Flint that were tested of lead levels,” McCree said. “And so there have been multiple different streams of litigation.”

Recently, a federal judge granted preliminary approval of a proposed $25 million settlement for Benton Harbor residents.

McCree said disputes over who would cover legal fees — including whether insurers would pay attorney costs — prompted her to review court opinions and break down the details for residents.

“The insurance company was saying that they were not going to pay the attorney's fees for the litigation, so that prompted me to go start pulling the actual legal opinions,” she said.

Several lawsuits have stemmed from the Benton Harbor water crisis. McCree said her aim is to explain where the cases stand and what residents should know.

“Hopefully, in a way that I can make them understandable and digestible for my hour program just to kind of explain where we are currently in the litigation,” she said.

During the podcast, McCree outlined the claims in the lawsuits, including allegations of negligence and violations of residents’ 14th Amendment right to bodily integrity. McCree said anyone who can show they lived within Benton Harbor city limits for at least two weeks during the affected time period could be eligible for a settlement.

She hopes the litigation will bring attention to broader disparities.

“I think that a financial settlement is always helpful,” McCree said. “But I do also think that’s an important piece of this as well, that we’re still in Black History Month and the disparities that we see in the communities that are affected by things like lead levels in the water being majority African American cities, is another thing that I want and hope can be addressed.”

A full livestream of “The Legal Hour” is archived on YouTube on the Law Office of Elizabeth L. McCree channel.