Benton Harbor Drinking Water Lawsuits Continue After Appeals Court Decision

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 01/30/2026) Lawsuits against the Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy (EGLE) arising out of elevated lead levels in Benton Harbor water will continue after an appeals panel denied the state’s request to dismiss the cases.

The Michigan Court of Appeals panel held the Court of Claims “properly concluded” that the state’s evidence didn’t eliminate factual questions arising from residents’ claims. 

Water Splashing

Judges Daniel S. Korobkin and Allie Greenleaf Maldonado held that there remained unresolved factual allegations related to whether state officials fraudulently concealed risks that tolled the plaintiffs’ claim of injury to bodily integrity, and as a result, the Court of Claims properly denied the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuits.

Appeals Judge Christopher Murray agreed with that conclusion. However, he would have dismissed a claim alleging inverse condemnation because it exceeds the six-month statute of limitations.

The Thursday opinion means the separate lawsuits – led by Jennifer Janssen-Rogers, Daretha Braziel and Oliver Kavanaugh – will continue.

The state argued area residents were aware of lead in the drinking water in October 2018 when the city distributed a public advisory letter with information, including advising users to “reduce your risk of lead exposure” by running the water to stable, cold temperatures and using bottled water to prepare baby formula.

The state also argued that media reports would have given notice to the plaintiffs, who also learned in a January 2019 town hall meeting with the Department of Health and Human Services that water filters would be available for the city’s water customers.

Plaintiffs argued that government officials indicated that although lead was in the water, it was being addressed, and they weren’t aware of the true danger until October 2021 – when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive declaration declaring the water unsafe to drink and authorizing a bottled water emergency.

“… Plaintiffs have presented sufficient uncontradicted allegations that what they knew about the contamination in October 2018 through early October 2021 was not enough to charge them with the knowledge of the existence of plaintiffs’ constitutional claims,” the opinion reads.

Meanwhile, a federal judge granted preliminary approval Jan. 22 to a proposed $25 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit led by Braziel against the city of Benton Harbor for $25 million.

A fairness hearing, at which the judge will determine whether to give final approval to the proposed settlement, is set for June 17.