Presented by Rebekah Martin (Flint Water Study Team)

The ASCE-NCS Sustainability Committee is proud to announce that the September 2018 ASCE-NCS Section Dinner Meeting will focus on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan -- its background, the research report, and status. Representing the renowned team of researchers led by Marc Edwards, M. ASCE, of Virginia Tech, our distinguished guest speaker will be Rebekah Martin, a member of the Flint Water Study Team since its work began in the summer of 2015.

The Flint Water study team was created because LeAnne Walters, a mother living in Flint, MI, in 2014, suddenly found discolored and foul-tasting water spewing from her faucet and began observing alarming rashes on her son after bathing. Ms. Walters contacted Dr. Marc Edwards, M. ASCE and Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering due to his career experience with lead in water, water treatment and aquatic chemistry including the DC Lead crisis of the early 2000's. In order to answer this mother's questions as well as the concerns of the many other citizens of Flint, Dr. Edwards led his team which put together lead testing kits and sent them to a group of Flint residents who had organized a citizen sampling campaign. Their samples, once analyzed, gave citizens the scientific evidence needed to demonstrate that there was a city-wide water crisis occurring due to the lack of corrosion control in the distributed drinking water.

The aims of the study were fourfold: (a) to support citizen scientists concerned about public health, by empowering Flint residents and stakeholders with independent information about their tap water; (b) To study impacts of water age and current water quality on Flint's water distribution systems as well as issues of elevated lead and opportunistic pathogens in premise plumbing (OPPPs), (c) To summarize findings from (a) and (b) to inform decision making and policy considerations, if necessary, on the part of both citizens and government agencies in the city, (d) To develop a comprehensive online repository as data and information become available.

Ms. Martin's presentation will present background on the DC water crisis, the team's Flint results, and the basics of the science behind the Flint citizen sampling plan and their related research.

WHEN: Tuesday, September 20, 2018, 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
WHERE: Hilton Arlington - 950 North Stafford Street, Arlington, Virginia
FEE: Early Registration: $45, Walk-In (pending availability)$55, Life Members $25, Students $10
One (1.0) Professional Development Hour (PDH) will be awarded for attendance.

About the Speaker:
Rebekah Martin is a PhD student at Virginia Tech in Civil Engineering. She is from Richmond, Virginia and attended Bucknell University for her undergraduate studies in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She has been a member of the Flint Water Study team since their formal work began in the summer of 2015.

The meeting is sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers, National Capital Section (ASCE-NCS).