Marc Edwards (civil engineer)
Marc Edwards (* 1964 in Buffalo, New York) is an American civil engineer known for uncovering cases of lead contamination of drinking water in the United States.
Edwards studied biophysics at the State University of New York at Buffalo with a bachelor's degree in 1986 and he studied at the University of Washington with a master's degree in 1988 and a doctorate in engineering in 1991. He then taught at the University of Colorado at Boulder and from 1997 was Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech . In 2007 he became a MacArthur Fellow .
From 2001 to 2005 he was President of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.
He studied corrosion of drinking water pipes and is known for uncovering a lead-contaminated drinking water scandal in Washington DC.
The increased lead values (around 1250 ppb instead of the permitted 15) came about, as he found out, by replacing the disinfectant chlorine with chloramine, which forced the dissolution of lead in drinking water. The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) then canceled his research assignments and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) no longer wanted to work with him. Edwards then partially financed the research out of his own pocket. After the Washington Post addressed the problem, there were Congressional hearings in 2004, at which Edwards testified. As a result, the use of chloramine was abandoned. Other recommendations by WASA, such as the use of new copper pipes, could worsen the problem, as the copper increased the corrosion in the old lead pipes, and the recommendation to let the water run out of the tap for 30 seconds as ineffective. He also found deficiencies in the drinking water tests for lead.
After this success, he turned to the long-term effects of lead in drinking water and denounced the flawedness and trivialization of the problem in a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There was a hearing in the US House of Representatives in 2010 and the CDC had to admit that its study was flawed.
In 2015, he discovered lead contamination in the drinking water of Flint, Michigan .
In 2013 he was the first to receive the IEEE Barus Award for defending the public good at great personal risk . He also received the Engineering News-Record Award of Excellence in 2017 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pam Russell: Clean Water Warrior Wins 2017 ENR Award of Excellence , Engineering News-Record, April 13, 2017
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Edwards, Marc |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American civil engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1964 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Buffalo (New York) |