FLINT, Mich. (NEWSnet/AP) — A second contractor said Thursday it has reached a $25 million settlement over its role in the lead-contaminated water case in Flint, Michigan.

The class-action litigation agreement includes payments of $1,500 for individual minors, according to Veolia North America. The company says the agreement will resolve claims made on behalf of more than 45,000 Flint residents.

In July 2023, the engineering firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newman said in a court filing that a confidential deal was reached with residents in federal court.

Like Veolia North America, Lockwood, Andrews & Newman had been accused of being partially responsible for the water crisis in the city.

Flint, which was under state-appointed managers, used Flint River for water in 2014-15, but it wasn’t treated in the same way as water previously supplied by a Detroit-area provider. As a result, lead leached throughout the pipe system.

The state was sued because environmental regulators and other officials missed opportunities to fix Flint’s water problem during the lead crisis. Flint returned to a regional water supplier in fall 2015.

Doctors later found high levels of lead in the blood of some children in Flint. Families sued Veolia North America and Lockwood, Andrews & Newman, accusing the firms of not doing enough to get Flint to treat corrosive water or to urge a return to a regional supplier.

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