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

by Mona Hanna-Attisha

We found out later that in January 2015 state officials, while telling Flint residents that their water was safe to drink, were arranging for water coolers to be delivered to the Flint State Office Building so state employees wouldn’t have to drink from the tap. We found out later that as early as March 2015, the governor’s office was exploring the distribution of water filters in Flint. Later it finally worked with two companies to donate to the Concerned Pastors for Social Action, which began handing out filters on September 1. At that time the state was still officially denying the water problems to the media, to outraged citizens, and to me. We found out later that the city, controlled by the state, had deliberately manipulated the water samples from Flint homes so they wouldn’t have to notify the public about the presence of lead, per the federal rules. To ensure a low percentage, they collected samples in such a way that caused less lead to be detected: they pre-flushed, removed faucet aerators, used smaller bottle mouths, and tested in homes without lead service lines or lead pipes. When high-lead samples came back, they were thrown out, including those from LeeAnne Walters’s home. We found out later that after Miguel Del Toral’s testing at LeeAnne’s home in April 2015 found hazardous-waste levels of lead in the water—and after he raised the alarm to his agency, the EPA, and MDEQ—he was dismissed and discredited and criticized for involving himself in matters that d...