April 25, 2014: In efforts to establish a lower-cost water source, the Flint river begins flowing into the small Michigan city as a temporary source until they construct a new pipeline.

In a statement, the Mayor of Flint, Dayne Walling, said “It’s regular, good, pure drinking water, and it’s right in our backyard.” 

May 4, 2016: A little less than two years later, former President Barack Obama refers to Flint as a “tragedy that never should have happened” in a speech to residents. 

In the two years between these statements, Flint Michigan declared a state of emergency. The local General Motors plant stopped its usage of Flint water due to “corrosive” properties. Water testing revealed high levels of lead content in residents’ drinking water. 

The New York Times reported on doctors who urged Flint officials to stop using the water, due to the high levels of lead found in the blood of children. 

The city of Flint adds anti-corrosive measures to the water to combat the lead leaching, and advises citizens not to use unfiltered water for any cooking, bathing or drinking. 

Now it is April 2018, almost four years since the crisis began, and two since the former president addressed the situation. The nation’s headlines have largely moved on from Flint and its water. So where do we stand?

The Washington Post reported late last year on a working paper being compiled by two health economists on the effects which lead levels have had on fertility in Flint. The paper delves into the effects of lead on fetuses, comparing it to similar statistics found from the early 2000’s Washington D.C. drinking water crises, which ended up leading to the introduction of chloramine into public water systems, and left thousands of children with lifelong complications.

The researchers estimate that “between 198 and 276 more children would have been born had Flint not enacted the switch in water.”

These are horrifying statistics for any city to experience, and Flint should be the last city forced to endure an ordeal like this. Based on  U.S. Census Bureau data from 2016, the 65,000 population of Flint had the highest poverty rate of any U.S. city. Forty-five percent of residents lived below the national poverty line, with a shocking 58 percent being minors, compared to the national average of 18 percent for childhood poverty. 

The Times reported extensively on Flint’s plans for recovery last year, beginning with Mayor Karen Weaver ensuring residents that all lead infrastructure would be replaced over the course of a few years. 

According to CNN, the U.S. Protection Agency and the state of Michigan are allocating millions in grants, but residents are understandably still outraged and concerned. 

“Everyone is erring on the side of caution” said Marc Edwards, an environmental engineer who worked extensively in the testing of the Flint water. 

With 48 criminal charges pending from Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, there’s hope for residents who want justice brought against those responsible. The legal process is just as gradual as the infrastructure improvements, and with four years of crisis under their belts, the residents of Flint deserve answers and help faster than they will receive them. 

In the world’s most powerful, wealthiest nation, it is an exceptional tragedy that clean drinking water should ever be an issue for someone, let alone 65,000 people. People have already been disenfranchised by the growing wealth inequality, lied to by public officials and now seemingly forgotten by the media. 

To those with the most power to push for change and justice, I urge you; do not stop this discussion. Keep Flint not only in your thoughts and prayers, but in your conversations and writings.

To end on a quote from Mari Copeny, an 8-year-old Flint resident who wrote former President Obama a letter asking to speak with him: “I am one of the children that is affected by this water, and I’ve been doing my best to march in protest and to speak out for all the kids that live here in Flint. This Thursday I will be riding a bus to Washington, D.C. to watch the congressional hearings of our Governor Rick Snyder.”

If an 8-year-old can get a response from the president, then think about what a campus of 10,000 college students have the power to do.