In September 2015, pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha went public with her team鈥檚 discovery of a human-made public health crisis in Flint, Michigan. Contaminated water exposed tens of thousands of Flint residents to dangerous levels of lead and caused the third-largest outbreak of Legionnaires鈥� disease recorded in U.S. history, which killed at least 12 people and sickened dozens more.
This year鈥檚 Common Book, What the Eyes Don鈥檛 See, is Hanna-Attisha鈥檚 first-hand account of her discovery and battle with her own government to expose the truth to the world.
As Otterbein鈥檚 incoming class of students reads this harrowing story, 9i果冻制作厂professors will be sharing their unique expertise about the subjects addressed in the book. Among those are Professor Kevin Svitana, director of the Sustainability Studies Program and Associate Professor Rob Braun of Health and Sport Science, who teaches public health at Otterbein.
9i果冻制作厂Professors鈥� Insights into the 2022 Common Book
A water quality expert with more than three decades of experience as a geologist and hydrogeologist, Svitana offers a look at how the crisis happened:
鈥淥ne of the failures of those responsible for the Flint water crisis is attributed to their lack of understanding of a water delivery system and the chemical dynamics of the system. While the Flint River water may not have been toxic, the chemistry of the water caused it to be corrosive to the pipes delivering the water to residents.
The corrosivity may or may not be attributed to pollution, but rather natural conditions, such as regional bedrock and soils, which can contain minerals or naturally occurring organics that can affect the water chemistry causing it to become corrosive. If the source water is corrosive, and this isn鈥檛 corrected by chemical adjustment prior to the water entering the distribution system, the corrosivity of the water begins to dissolve the pipes. If lead is part of the piping, whether it鈥檚 the actual pipe or the solder used to join copper pipes, it is dissolved into the water and travels as a lead-containing solution to consumers. This is the condition that occurred in Flint.鈥�
In addition to how the crisis happened, the book examines why it happened. One of the main themes in the book is the environmental injustice the residents of Flint experienced. Associate Professor Rob Braun teaches public health education at Otterbein. He offers this view:
鈥淭he Environmental Protection Agency defines environmental justice as 鈥榯he fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.鈥� However, that 鈥榡ustice鈥� did not occur in the case of the Flint water crisis. As you read this book and reflect on its content, I encourage you to think of all the examples Dr. Hanna-Attisha reveals that contradict the above statement.鈥�
For more information about this year’s Common Book, visit www.otterbein.edu/commonbook/.
