Letter to the Editor pubs.acs.org/est
We Helped Flint Residents Save Themselves and Are Proud of ItStaying in Our Ivory Tower Would Have Perpetuated Injustice
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ambrinidou critiques our ES&T Viewpoint article describing a “bottom-up” research model that exposed the Flint Water Crisis.1 Specifically, she emphasizes the importance of truly bottom-up “listening” and supposed dangers of “scientists themselves becom ≪ ing≫ the face of the crisis.” This builds on her public criticism of our role in a September 15, 2015 press conference,2−5 where we stood alongside Flint residents and shared the results of our water testing research, a critical step in revealing a shocking environmental injustice that is now acknowledged throughout the world. She warns that allowing the media to cast a scientist as a hero could replicate “the very structural inequalities that render environmental injustices possible” and that Edwards should have stayed in Virginia, away from the cameras, and pushed Flint residents to present scientific research to the media themselves.2,3 Given that the press conference in question was a life or death situation, we do not consider this to be a valid critique. Corrupt agencies refused to admit Flint’s water was unsafe to drink and it would take a near-miracle to expose the truth and enact interventions urgently needed to protect the public. LeeAnne Walters (Flint mother and a pre-eminent face of the crisis)6 and other residents personally requested that we attend to face the media because otherwise no one would listen to them. In fact, Walters still believes that “having Virginia Tech at the press conference is what f inally got citizens heard,”7 and “if Edwards stayed in Virginia and let residents f ight a science war with the agencies, we would have likely lost.”4,7 The press conference videos are publicly available to judge our conduct, attitude, methods, and intentions.5 While Lambrinidou did not participate in our Flint effort or the press conference, in its immediate aftermath she repeatedly expressed alarm to Flint residents and our students that Virginia Tech was getting too much credit in the media.7,8 Her priorities are surprising, given that a victory was only possible by uniting scientists and citizens in a desperate fight to protect Flint’s children, the outcome of which was very much in doubt at that moment. While Lambrinidou and some other outside activists have cast the media coverage as a bitter battleground between citizens, scientists, and activists for credit,2,3,9 those who actually fought and won the Flint battle have always magnanimously acknowledged all parties for their stunning collaborative achievement. We admire Lambrinidou’s idealism, but should we have denied a direct request from Flint residents to attend the press conference, in order to see what “might have played out”2 to ensure that scientists were not allotted too much credit and did not take “the lead in bringing social change?” No. In fact, we implore other academics to consider taking these very risks to fulfill their ethical obligation to protect the public welfare.1,10 In the end: “it is not the critic who counts,” but the “ < hu > man actually in the arena···who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst···at least fails while daring greatly.”11 © XXXX American Chemical Society
Our collaboration that exposed this disaster is a triumph by any reasonable measure and we do not apologize for helping Flint residents “save their own day.”2
Marc A. Edwards* Amy Pruden
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Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*Phone: (540) 231-7236; fax: (540) 231-7916; e-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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REFERENCES
(1) Edwards, M.; Pruden, A. The Flint Water Crisis: Overturning the Research Paradigm to Advance Science and Defend Public Welfare 2016, 50, (17) (10.1021/acs.est.6b03573). (2) Hohn, D. 2016. Flint’s Water Crisis and the ‘Troublemaker’ Scientist. The New York Times Magazine (8/16), http://www.nytimes. com/2016/08/21/magazine/flints-water-crisis-and-the-troublemakerscientist.html. (3) Kolowich, S. The Accidental Ethicist. October 2, 2016. Chronicle of Higher Education. http://www.chronicle.com/article/TheAccidental-Ethicist/237954. (4) Keep Making Voices Heard, Activists Urge, as Expert Decries City Water Switch. Front page headline of Flint Journal after press conference. September 17, 2016. (5) Video of first and second Flint press conferences. September 15, 2015. Available at http://flintwaterstudy.org/2016/09/1-yearanniversary-flint-residents-coalition-of-clean-water-and-virginia-techpress-conference-on-sep-15-2015/. (6) Smith, L. This mom helped uncover what was really going on with Flint’s water. Michigan Radio December 14, 2015. http:// michiganradio.org/post/mom-helped-uncover-what-was-really-goingflint-s-water. (7) Personal Communication with LeeAnne Walters. Flint Resident. September 26, 2016. (8) Personal Communication with Sid Roy. September 26, 2016. (9) Schwartz, P. Written comment to WNYC story. I Thought the Truth Would Be Enough. Only Human. http://www.wnyc.org/story/ marc-edwards-flint/. (10) Edwards, M., Pruden, A.; Roy, S.; Rhoads, W.. Engineers Shall Hold Paramount the Safety, Health and Welfare of the Public. http:// flintwaterstudy.org/2016/10/engineers-shall-hold-paramount-thesafety-health-and-welfare-of-the-public-but-not-if-it-threatens-ourresearch-funding/. (11) Roosevelt, T. Citizenship in a Republic. April 23, 1910.
Received: October 21, 2016 Accepted: October 21, 2016
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05347 Environ. Sci. Technol. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
