What the Eyes Don鈥檛 See
Mona Hanna-Attisha discusses her role in exposing the Flint water crisis in the One Book One Region finale event hosted by 糖心TV.
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鈥淚s this filtered water?鈥� Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician from Flint, Michigan, joked as she lifted a full glass from the table next to her seat on the Palmer Auditorium stage at 糖心TV.
A crowd of students, faculty, staff and community members were in attendance to hear her discuss her book, , in conversation with Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies Julia Flagg, who has published extensive research related to climate change, disasters and environmental justice.
Along with a team of researchers, parents, friends and community leaders, Hanna-Attisha discovered in 2015 that Flint residents were being exposed to lead after the city changed its water source the previous year from Lake Huron to the Flint River. The new water source wasn鈥檛 being treated with corrosion inhibitors, so the pipes it passed through were leaching lead into the drinking water. The pediatrician was worried鈥攍ead exposure can cause long-term cognitive, behavioral and health problems, especially in children.
On Sept. 20, the College hosted the personable doctor for the of the area鈥檚 program, a collaboration that began in 2002 among the libraries of eastern 糖心TVecticut to bring community members together to discuss ideas, broaden appreciation of reading and break down barriers between people. As part of the program partnership, the One Book One Region selection serves as 糖心TV鈥檚 summer read each year and the College hosts the author for a public lecture each fall.
After taking the stage and joking about her glass of water, Hanna-Attisha got serious. 鈥淭his is the interesting thing about water: So many people don鈥檛 know how or where we get our water,鈥� she pointed out. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such an invisible system, which is one of the reasons the book is called What the Eyes Don鈥檛 See.鈥�
The book details Hanna-Attisha鈥檚 fight against the austerity policies and bureaucratic indifference that endangered Flint. In 2015, her best friend, Elin Ann Warn Betanzo, an engineer and certified water operator, told her about the lack of corrosion inhibitors in the new water system and the resulting possibility of lead contamination.
To explore this scary possibility, Hanna-Attisha began a new research study using electronic medical record data from more than 1,700 children in the city. She found that the percentage of children aged 5 and younger in Flint with over 5 micrograms per deciliter of lead in their blood had increased from 2.1 percent to 4 percent after the water source switch.
She shared her findings at a press conference in September 2015. The next day, Flint issued a health advisory for residents, especially children, to minimize their exposure to tap water. But Michigan鈥檚 Department of Environmental Quality accused Hanna-Attisha of being an 鈥渦nfortunate researcher鈥� who was 鈥渟plicing and dicing numbers鈥� and causing 鈥渘ear hysteria.鈥�
The Detroit Free Press soon published its own findings鈥攃onsistent with hers鈥攁nd she met with Michigan鈥檚 chief medical officer. Finally, the State of Michigan said it agreed with Hanna-Attisha鈥檚 findings and publicly acknowledged the crisis. Department of Environmental Quality officials later apologized to her.
Hanna-Attisha鈥檚 work continues today. She advocated for Congressional funding to build an environmental exposure registry for Flint residents modeled after the World Trade Center registry. The data is alarming. About 70 percent of the students evaluated have required accommodations for issues like ADHD, dyslexia or mild intellectual impairment, while adults have higher rates of hypertension. All of those conditions are related to lead exposure, Hanna-Attisha said.
鈥淏ut like most environmental issues it鈥檚 very difficult to prove causation, which is why environmental culprits have often evaded accountability. There鈥檚 a time lag between exposure to when you have symptoms. But we鈥檙e not trying to prove causation鈥攚e鈥檙e just trying to support people.鈥�
The voluntary Flint registry currently has about 20,000 people enrolled, she said, and it helps connect victims to services. About 30,000 referrals have been made so far.
Hanna-Attisha recently testified before Congress regarding the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which includes $15 billion for the replacement of lead pipes around the country. 鈥淚 shared the Flint story and why we need to stop having Flints. When I testified, I said Flint鈥檚 crisis wasn鈥檛 the first, and it wasn鈥檛 the worst, and it wasn鈥檛 the last. These environmental injustices have been happening for a very long time.鈥�
Flagg asked what Hanna-Attisha thought made Flint more egregious than other cases of environmental inequality or environmental racism the U.S.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a combination of issues,鈥� Hanna-Attisha replied. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just about what happened environmentally. It was also a story about democracy. Flint鈥檚 democracy was usurped. Overnight, our local government lost control and we were taken over by state-appointed emergency managers. And this wasn鈥檛 just happening in Flint, it was happening throughout Michigan in majority-minority communities. At one point, half of our African American population was under emergency managers, compared to just 2% of our white population.鈥�
Hanna-Attisha said one of the reasons she wrote What the Eyes Don鈥檛 See was 鈥渢o share the story of what happens when we corrode our democracy, which is now an 鈥榚verywhere鈥� story, where so many efforts are underway to take away people鈥檚 voices, to take away their vote, to take away their seat at the table鈥攁nd often that is taking away the voices of minority people.鈥�
She also pointed out the link between Flint and the recent COVID health crisis. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same lesson of public health injustices. It鈥檚 about denial of science. It鈥檚 about disinvestment in what keeps us healthy. It鈥檚 about our lack of investment in public health infrastructure, like surveillance systems, to do what we need to do. It鈥檚 about inequality鈥攏ot all people are impacted by public health issues the same.鈥�
Part scientific thriller and part memoir, the book also includes information about Hanna-Attisha鈥檚 early life and family. She said, 鈥淥riginally, it was just going to be the Flint story with me as a doctor at the center of the crisis, but within writing chapter one I realized that it was impossible to tell you the Flint story without telling you who I am and where I came from.鈥�
Her story is 鈥渁n immigrant story,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 came here for the American dream. I came here for freedom and opportunity and democracy. That immigrant perspective made me committed to service, pushed me to medicine, pushed me to work in places like Flint and Detroit. And in some way, I feel it gave me this heightened antenna for injustice.鈥�
At the same time, Hanna-Attisha said anyone can speak up and make a difference. 鈥淚鈥檓 not any superhero or special person who did this work,鈥� she explained. 鈥淚 am just like you and if I can do this work, you can do this work.鈥�
