Government failed Flint, Michigan. In April 2014, Flint changed its water source from treated Detroit system to the Flint River. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water. As a result, there was a serious public health danger. The Flint River water caused lead from aging pipes to leach into the water supply.
The city was crushed when GM closed it’s Flint plant in the 1980s. The city was in deep financial trouble in 2011 when the state stepped in to control the local government because of a blooming city budget deficit. The switch of water sources was to save money and the failure to apply corrosion control was a further cost-cutting measure.
There are plenty of sources of information on this crisis. I was interested in What the Eyes Don’t See because it is told from the perspective of a whistleblower.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a pediatrician at Flint’s public hospital. She was an employee of the government, calling out the government for its failures. People noticed the poor quality of the water, but the city and state claimed to have run proper tests and found it to be safe.
Dr. Mona talked with an old friend at a cookout and was sent some leaked documents causing her to question whether the water was “safe.” She was able to use the hospital blood test data to identify a noticeable spike in patients’ blood lead levels after the water supply switch. Then it was a battle against her employer, the city and the state government.
For some criticism, I think the tile of the book and the cover art totally fail to properly convey the message of the book. I failed to notice it the first time it was made available to me by the publisher. At first glance, it seemed like some existential book about hope. Only on a second look did I catch what the book it actually about. The publisher was still nice enough to send me a review copy.
The book offers a great insight in the obstacles of a whistleblower. In this case it was not for financial gain or some battle to be correct. Dr. Mona was doing her job. As a pediatrician, her job was to keep the city’s kids healthy. The city was failing. Dr. Mona had doubts about her study. She was attacked by the government, her employer. A Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson accused her of being an “unfortunate researcher” who was “splicing and dicing numbers.”
The book is worth adding to your to-read list.