Here is the inspiring story of how Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, alongside a team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders, discovered that the children of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water—and then battled her own government and a brutal backlash to expose that truth to the world. Paced like a scientific thriller, What the Eyes Don’t See reveals how misguided austerity policies, broken democracy, and callous bureaucratic indifference placed an entire city at risk. And at the center of the story is Dr. Mona herself—an immigrant, doctor, scientist, and mother whose family’s activist roots inspired her pursuit of justice.
What the Eyes Don’t See is a riveting account of a shameful disaster that became a tale of hope, the story of a city on the ropes that came together to fight for justice, self-determination, and the right to build a better world for their—and all of our—children.
-- Penguin Random House
Introduction to the Flint Water Crisis
Scientific Articles
Four phases of the Flint Water Crisis: Evidence from blood lead levels in children, ScienceDirect
In the News and Elsewhere
Compare the Michigan state government's timeline with two others from NBC and NPR. What are the differences in information/perspective? What kind of bias does each have?
Water Governance Justice and the Right to Water by Did Water Kill Children in Woburn? In Bellwether Case, Massachusetts Families Link Contamination With Leukemia, Source: Washington Post Summary: Woburn Water Contamination: 10 miles from the Fenway, Woburn, MA was the center of a water contamination disaster in the 1960's and 70's, caused by industrial waste.
Making Sense of "Day Zero": Slow Catastrophes, Anthropocene Futures, and the Story of Cape Town's Water Crisis, Source: Water (Scholarly Journal Article) Summary: The extraordinary events of Day Zero raised the specter of Mad Max-style water wars. They also led to the development of new forms of solidarity, with water acting as a social leveler. The paper argues that the events in Cape Town open a window onto the future, to the extent that it describes something about what happens when the added stresses of climate change are mapped onto already-contested social and political situations.
Walkerton revisited: how our psychological defenses may influence responses to water crises, Source: Ecology and Society (Scholarly Journal Article) Summary: When the drinking water in Walkerton, Ontario (2000) was contaminated - sending 65 people to the hospital and killing seven people - outrage and recriminations quickly reached the provincial Parliament and Toronto media outlets. Failure to recognize the intrinsic role of emotions in water decisions and policy could undermine efforts to respond to climatic uncertainties, water demands, and extreme events that will intensify and threaten our water security.
India's Water Crisis, New York Times Opinion piece by Meera Subramanian. Summary: To survive the climate emergency, India needs the collective power of small-scale, nature-based efforts.
Websites for Public Reports on Public Water Systems and Wells
How to Find Your Public Water System's Annual Consumer Confidence Report? MS State Department of Health
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
EPA Map with links to reports by system
Mississippi Private Well Populations Report
Mississippi Public Service Commission Zap the Gap
