The state Department of Social and Health Services has settled a lawsuit for $7.5 million that alleged water at the state's facility for sexually violent predators was not safe for residents.
The Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island is where courts civilly commit sex offenders who have already served a criminal sentence but whom the state deems too dangerous to release.
Residents there filed the federal lawsuit in 2016.
The News Tribune reported that residents described the water at the facility at times as the color of "mild coffee."
Brett Purtzer, an attorney who represented the plaintiffs, told The News Tribune on Monday that "the state has an obligation to protect them and to provide for them," and that the state was "simply not doing that to the best of their ability."
The state has said throughout that the water was safe.
"This resolution is not an admission of wrongdoing on the part of the Department of Social and Health Services," DSHS said in a statement about the settlement Monday. "Unfortunately, we received some disappointing rulings from the court that would require a lengthy and expensive jury trial involving more than 200 individual plaintiffs to resolve the matter. To avoid the expense of this trial and the risk of an adverse jury award, which would include a significant amount of attorney's fees for plaintiff's counsel, we decided to settle the case."
Now the roughly 200 current and former residents who are eligible have until June to file paperwork to get their share of the $7.5 million, which the DSHS statement said amounts to $263 per month they were on McNeil Island.
"Per the court and the settlement agreement, the amount per month of $263 multiplied by the number of months is the calculation used to determine the amount for a claim, subject to any outstanding legal obligations," the DSHS statement said. "Of the $7.5 million in the settlement, $2.5 million of that goes to the plaintiff's attorneys."
Purtzer said he's confident about being able to reach those who are eligible and walk them through the paperwork. They've been in contact throughout the process, he said.
"We'll do our darnedest to get a hold of them," he said.
As for water at the facility today: "The Department of Corrections has upgraded the water system at the Special Commitment Center and the water provided to Special Commitment Center residents continues to be clean and safe to drink," DSHS's statement said.
Purtzer said that "the water has been discolored for as long as people have been out there on the island."
The settlement, he said, "was the appropriate way to go after two days of mediation" and "the best way to go to make sure the clients get some money out of the situation."
He noted that those on the island are not serving prison sentences.
"They've been convicted of offenses, but they have all served their sentence," Purtzer said.
When water turned brown, employees at the facility would hand out bottled water, The News Tribune reported in 2016.
"The bottled water is sufficient for ... for thirst or the body's need for retaining water," 64-year-old James Jones, who was committed to the facility, told The News Tribune at the time. "But I don't think it's sufficient for washing your tailbone in it or washing your face for a shave, or getting into the shower," the former Spokane resident said. "You can't get into the shower with bottled water."
