[published with permission under condition of anonymity]
Sep 19, 2017
Hello everyone,
This is ____________, I am __________ in Flint. I’m writing just to say thank you for all the amazing and thankless work you do and have done for residents and families in Flint. You are clearly in a no win situation with some activists, reporters, residents, and miscellaneous malcontents. We have been in contact with you since early last year and so appreciate your dedication to the science and to doing so in an honest and transparent fashion, unlike some of the pseudoscience and grifting being done by the circus known as ____________ and others.
This is a job you couldn’t pay someone to do in a climate so toxic and a political environment so surreal and yet you have stayed the course and continued your work. You and your incredibly dedicated colleagues and students have done a great service to the residents, families, and children of Flint. Of that, there is no doubt. You have my heartfelt and sincere thanks for all you do. At some point we hope to undertake some new initiatives in Flint to bridge the biggest remaining gaps in this crisis which you aptly called the Trust issue. That remains the single biggest impediment to weening people off bottled water and getting them to begin to use municipal tap water again. It is an endeavor we hope will bear fruit but we have no illusions and also know it may likely be decades before we see any substantial shift in how people use their water and can again trust what comes our of their faucets. We hope to approach your team in the near future to get your input, feedback and insights on how best we might undertake such an effort and achieve some lasting positive outcomes from such an effort. But for now we at _____________ are grateful for having you in Flint. Your actions are nothing short of heroic and in a place and time where few others actions can be labeled such.
Thank you all. We support you wholeheartedly and without reservation and if we can be of service to you in any way in Flint or beyond feel free to reach out to us.
Take good care
________________
I am deeply saddened and disturbed by the latest backlash to your recent press release. I feel compelled to reach out and thank you guys for your continuing transparency of data, and your untiring support of long-ignored and struggling communities. Communication of science is difficult- often we are misquoted and misunderstood. I do not envy the scientist who steps beyond that imaginary line out of a desire to reveal the truth- I have long admired all that you guys do. It’s a thankless job but please believe your work is appreciated and very much needed. It is clear to me it is not done with any self- interest in mind.