What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City (One World Essentials)

by Mona Hanna-Attisha

The onslaught of misinformation and lies began. First, MDEQ blamed the high water-lead levels in the schools on the school fixtures. Then Nick Lyon stepped up to the podium and stated unequivocally that since October 1, 2015, forty-three kids had been exposed to lead. He had a number. It was forty-three. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Had he really said forty-three? How had he arrived at that wholly inadequate number? Who had given it to him? It was outrageous—medically ridiculous—to announce that only a few dozen kids had been exposed. The time frame was way, way off. By October 1, 2015, the exposure had been going on for eighteen months—and it was two weeks after my big press conference, when the word had already gone out to parents not to drink the water.