Episode 21: Marc Edwards and the Fight for Safe Water
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Episode 21: Marc Edwards and the Fight for Safe Water
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What happens when the people responsible for protecting public health become the ones doing the harm?
In this episode of H2O and Beyond, I’m joined by Dr. Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech professor who was named to TIME’s 2016 TIME 100 for his role in helping expose the Flint water crisis. But this conversation goes far beyond Flint.
Dr. Edwards breaks down how the Washington D.C. lead crisis unfolded, why he believes government agencies knowingly covered up dangerous lead exposure for years, and what happens to scientists who refuse to stay quiet. We talk about the real consequences of whistleblowing, the collapse of trust in institutions, and why fixing water infrastructure becomes almost impossible once the public believes the system is lying.
We also dive into Flint—what was true, what got distorted, and why Dr. Edwards says the narrative around the crisis has sometimes caused harm of its own. Finally, he shares blunt advice for young scientists: how to stay honest in a system that rewards quantity over truth.
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
5:19 The start of it all: Washington D.C
9:37 Experiences testifying in Congress
10:35 Bad scientists?
12:06 How can the EPA get away with lying to the public?
14:50 Why do most Americans not know about D.C?
15:54 Why did the EPA cut Dr. Edwards funding?
17:06 What kept Dr. Edwards pushing for the truth?
18:29 Punishments for whistleblowing
20:33 How bad was Flint, from a scientist’s perspective?
25:20 Are the kids in Flint really that much behind developmentally?
31:25 Why do scientists lie?
33:32 How do you deal with defamation as a scientist?
34:40 Problems with funding
37:17 Why do we reward quantity over quality in science?
41:09 Advice for young scientists
42:26 How do we solve this broken system of science right now?
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Dr. Edward's website:
https://www.webapps.cee.vt.edu/index.php?category=people&pagetype=bio&do=getprofile&user=edwards.html
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10103158/