Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech professor and whistleblower in the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, is suing his former collaborators for defamation in retaliation for a letter that appeared online in May. Edwards is asking for $3 million dollars in damages to his reputation that he says the letter caused.
The letter claims, “Residents of Flint object to Mr. Edwards fighting his own petty and vicious fights against anyone and everyone he sees as a challenger or competitor, and against anyone and everyone Flint residents turn to for help other than himself, all under the guise of ‘protecting’ and ‘saving’ us, or ‘defending’ science.” Sixty Flint residents who have signed the document attest to Edwards’s negative public comments about the community—including some on their hygiene.
“It seems, from my perspective, that he takes any suggestion that we’re still having problems with the water as a personal attack against him,” Bobbi Coates, ...
