In April of 2014, the city of Flint, Michigan temporarily switched its water supply from Lake Huron to Flint river in order to save money while the city transitioned into a new system. However, the water wasn’t treated and corroded the pipes it traveled through, leaching led into flint’s water supply,

Water was discolored, foamy, and foul smelling. But despite many complaints from the residents of Flint, the government insisted the water was safe to drink. They ignored the problem for almost two years, despite the fact that some houses received water so contaminated it could be considered hazardous waste. The city placed chlorine the water supply and instructed residents to boil water before consuming it. However, these practices can actually increase levels of lead.

This was not because the government was unaware of the dangerous water quality — reports were fabricated and citizens were lied to in order to cover up the crisis. An employee at the Environmental Protection Agency leaked reports of high lead levels, but the city blamed the household plumbing. It was not until Marc Edwards, a professor of environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, led an investigation into Flint’s water supply that the city admitted there was a problem. Finally, in Fall of 2015, the Michigan government declared a state of emergency and began bringing bottled water to Flint residents. But the damage had already been done. More than a dozen people died, many became sick and experienced other adverse reactions to the contaminated water.  Many young children and babies exposed to the water are already exhibiting cognitive, developmental, and physical impairment s that will impact them for the rest of their lives.

Why is this an Environmental Justice issue? Based on census data, Flint, Michigan is the most impoverished city in America, suffering from the same economic turmoil as its large, neighboring city, Detroit. And Flint’s poverty levels have only been exacerbated by the water crisis. Their plight has largely been ignored because they are a city of lower-class Americans and because the city is populated mostly by African-Americans. If Flint, Michigan was a white, affluent community, this issue would have been addressed 2014 when complaints were first made. In fact, chances are compromises on water quality would never have been made. The government was willing to put this group of citizens in harm’s way to save money, but they were only willing to do this because their lives and safety have been devalued by institutional racism and classism. And despite the fact that Flint residents will feel the impacts of the water crisis for decades to come, aid for the city has halted only two years into the state of emergency.

This past year, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder stopped sending bottled water to Flint. Lead levels have significantly decreased, but no amount of lead exposure is safe, and in many parts of the city, the dangerous pipes have yet to be replaced. Citizens still don’t feel safe drinking the water, but they are forced to pay expensive bills for water they don’t use, on top of the expensive bottled water they now need to buy in order to survive. On top of all this, many have lost jobs or have expensive hospital bills due to the health impacts of the water. The fact that Snyder abandoned Flint while they still reeled from the crisis is clear negligence and complete apathy for the pain that the community has experienced. Flint deserves far more than an apology and a few years of mediocre aid. They deserve significant reparations for the damage done to their health, their safety, and their quality of life.

For more information, check out these informative videos on the origins of the Flint water crisis.

If you want to help the residents of Flint, check out this article from HuffPost about all the best ways to offer aid.