Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Analysis in What the Eyes Don’t See

The EPA is an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that is in charge of environmental protection matters. While the EPA is responsible for protecting human health and the environment, What the Eyes Don’t See shows that the organization has repeatedly been involved in coverups of environmental crises related to pollution.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Quotes in What the Eyes Don’t See

The What the Eyes Don’t See quotes below are all either spoken by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or refer to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Racism and Environmental Injustice Theme Icon

“If Miguel’s right that Flint is not using corrosion control, that means there’s lead in Flint's water.”

“Lead in the water?”

[…] “And based on Miguel’s memo,” she went on, “the lead levels in the Flint water are really, really high. He suspects that MDEQ isn’t testing correctly. That’s why he leaked the memo.”

“Are you kidding me?” I shook my head. “Why would anybody at the EPA need to leak their own memo?”

Elin cocked her head and just stared at me, deadpan. She was waiting for me to catch up.

Related Characters: Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha (speaker), Elin Betanzo (speaker), Miguel Del Toral

Page Number and Citation: 39

Explanation and Analysis:

Again and again, the state and federal officials’ disdain for Flint was shocking.

At the EPA, when asked about using federal money to buy water filters for city residents, the Region 5 Water Division chief […] wrote to the regional administrator and others, “I’m not so sure Flint is the community we want to go out on a limb for.”

The pointed cruelty. The arrogance and inhumanity.

Sometimes it is called racism. Sometimes it is called callousness. And sometimes […] it can be called manslaughter.

Related Characters: Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 286

Explanation and Analysis:

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Term Timeline in What the Eyes Don’t See

The timeline below shows where the term Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears in What the Eyes Don’t See. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Community Values and Collective Duty Theme Icon

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared the water safe to drink—and people like Mona took them at their word. On... (full context)

...of her former colleagues, Miguel Del Toral, who worked in the Chicago office of the EPA. He’d done an independent test of the Flint water supply months ago and found that... (full context)

Elin told Mona that when she was working for the EPA, experts found that there was lead in the water in D.C.—and there had been for... (full context)

...on her iPad, reading a series of links, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports, and EPA memos that Elin had forwarded to her. Elin also sent her a note promising to... (full context)

...from them wouldn’t keep people safe from lead. Miguel struggled to get anyone at the EPA or the MDEQ to verify his findings—and so he and Walters leaked them to a... (full context)

...talking to Elin about the D.C. water crisis. Elin had gone to work for the EPA in 2002—just as the city found itself in a crisis after a new decontaminant, chloramine,... (full context)

...as soon as Marc’s findings made their way back to WASA, a cover-up began. The EPA discontinued his subcontract, and many other engineers were fired. Elin herself was removed from the... (full context)

...sampling that needed to be done before and after the water switch. But still, the EPA wasn’t taking over from MDEQ, and Marc suggested that the two agencies were actually working... (full context)

...was surprised when the mayor spoke up again to say that a meeting with the EPA and MDEQ suggested that there wasn’t a corrosion issue, but simply a problem with many... (full context)

...as well as sending in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to obtain state and EPA email records in hopes of finding some answers about what was really going on. But... (full context)

...Kildee and Ananich’s offices were behind them, as were Marc Edwards and some of his “EPA buddies,” such as Miguel Del Toral. (full context)

...the red tape, denial, and excuses they’d faced—Mona and her team watched proudly as the EPA acknowledged the water crisis, established a Flint Safe Drinking Water Task Force, and vowed to... (full context)

Family, Tradition, and Strength Theme Icon

...point, after all, to all the setbacks Elin had faced during her time at the EPA. (full context)

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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Term Analysis

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Quotes in What the Eyes Don’t See

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Term Timeline in What the Eyes Don’t See

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