{"id":2194,"date":"2026-01-16T15:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/cherry\/?p=2194"},"modified":"2026-01-16T15:19:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T20:19:41","slug":"flint-water-crisis-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/senatedems.com\/cherry\/2026\/01\/16\/flint-water-crisis-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten\u00a0Years Since State of Emergency Declared, Sen. Cherry Reflects on Flint Water Crisis, Uplifts Settlement Payments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=&#8221;1&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.3&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221;][et_pb_row _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.3&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_column _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.3&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; type=&#8221;4_4&#8243; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221;][et_pb_text _builder_version=&#8221;4.27.3&#8243; _module_preset=&#8221;default&#8221; theme_builder_area=&#8221;post_content&#8221; hover_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243; sticky_enabled=&#8221;0&#8243;]<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\"><p>FLINT,\u00a0Mich. (Jan. 16,\u00a02026) \u2014\u00a0Today marks\u00a0exactly 10 years since a state of emergency was declared\u00a0on the Flint water crisis \u2014 one of the worst\u00a0man-made\u00a0environmental and public health disasters in our country\u2019s recent history. In reflection\u00a0on this tragedy\u00a0and in response to\u00a0the distribution of\u00a0Flint\u00a0settlement\u00a0fund payments\u00a0beginning last month,\u00a0Sen.<span>\u00a0<\/span><b>John Cherry<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>(D-Flint) released the following statement:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThough the state of emergency that was declared for the Flint water crisis 10 years ago was officially lifted on paper last year, we continue to see the consequences of this tragedy every day with the devastating toll it has taken on residents\u2019 mental and physical health \u2014 a toll that requires significant resources to address.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile no amount of money, words, or actions can fully undo the harm inflicted on our children and community and bring back those we tragically lost, as victims to a public health crisis and environmental injustice of the highest order, I do want to make sure residents are aware of the compensation they are entitled to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the distribution of Flint water settlement payments starting last month, I want to urge residents who have filed a claim to be on the lookout for these award notices in the mail, so they can access the funds they have long been waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>More than a decade after the start of the Flint water crisis, thousands of city residents have begun receiving their share of the $626.25 million settlement fund, approved for distribution by a federal judge last month.<\/p>\n<p>The first award notices and payments were sent in December for those who have been approved for residential property damage claims \u2014 specifically, for those who do not have a property shared with another claimant.\u00a0Additional\u00a0award notices, including those to address the harm inflicted on the health of children and adults, will then be issued on a rolling basis, according to the<span>\u00a0<\/span><span><u><a id=\"OWA7fd28ca7-6771-b21f-d65f-5ceb53ba0487\" class=\"x_Hyperlink x_SCXW115089052 x_BCX0 x_OWAAutoLink\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/officialflintwaterpayments.com\/\" data-linkindex=\"1\" title=\"https:\/\/officialflintwaterpayments.com\/\">official Flint settlement fund website<\/a><\/u><\/span>.\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" style=\"text-align: center;\">###\u00a0<\/div>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FLINT,\u00a0Mich. (Jan. 16,\u00a02026) \u2014\u00a0Today marks\u00a0exactly 10 years since a state of emergency was declared\u00a0on the Flint water crisis \u2014 one of the worst\u00a0man-made\u00a0environmental and public health disasters in our country\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","twitterCardType":"","cardImageID":0,"cardImage":"","cardTitle":"","cardDesc":"","cardImageAlt":"","cardPlayer":"","cardPlayerWidth":0,"cardPlayerHeight":0,"cardPlayerStream":"","cardPlayerCodec":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.0 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ten\u00a0Years Since State of Emergency Declared, Sen. 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