Corrosion the culprit: key papers on water crisis in Flint, MI made publicly accessible

John Scully, Technical Editor in Chief of the journal CORROSION,  recently published a special editorial section covering the centrality of corrosion in Flint's water crisis. Additionally, in his capacity as technical editor, he choose to make public via open access the full texts (see below) of many of key scientific papers, including several of Marc Edwards, professor at Va Tech. Well known within the field, the articles detail the technical understanding regarding galvanic coupling of copper and lead, the leachability of lead into water, and the corrosion factors needed to mitigate and passivate lead.  

In addition to a broad overview of the science, Scully's editorial also offers some context on lessons to be learned from this tragedy, one common when "corrosion immunity is often tragically assumed."
 

This issue was compounded in Flint by a subsequent series of denials, unfortunate decisions,  missed opportunities, and then unwanted criticisms of the individuals that raised concerns (i.e. the "whistle-blowers.")   ...What does a very sad technical editor think at these moments? Enough technical information, lessons learned, and clarity was available to make wise data-driven, informed decisions prior to the problem. 

What does a very sad technical editor think at these moments? Enough technical information, lessons learned, and clarity was available to make wise data driven, informed decisions prior to the problem.

What does a very sad technical editor think at these moments? Enough technical information, lessons learned, and clarity was available to make wise data driven, informed decisions prior to the problem. - See more at: http://www.corrosionjournal.org/doi/full/10.5006/0010-9312-72.4.451?tab=1#sthash.7ejJPrMQ.dpuf

Water resources are but one area that corrosion impacts. Corrosion of the nation's aging infrastructure is a critical problem; a national issue which if left unaddressed, will likely consume a growing share of resources. The American Society of Civil Engineers Report Card currently grades the national infrastructure at a D+.

Open access articles, free via the journal CORROSION: 

J. Hu, F. Gan, S. Triantafyllidou, C.K. Nguyen, M.A. Edwards,“Copper-Induced Metal Release from Lead Pipe into Drinking Water,” Corrosion68, 11 (2012): p. 1037-1048
http://dx.doi.org/10.5006/0616.J

St. Clair, C. Stamopoulos, M. Edwards,“Technical Note: Increased Distance Between Galvanic Lead: Copper Pipe Connections Decreases Lead Release,”Corrosion68, 9 (2012): p. 779-783
http://dx.doi.org/10.5006/0745

C.K. Nguyen, B.N. Clark, K.R. Stone, M.A. Edwards,“Role of Chloride, Sulfate, and Alkalinity on Galvanic LeadCorrosion,”Corrosion67, 6 (2011): p. 065005-1 to 065005-9
http://dx.doi.org/10.5006/1.3600449

J.I. Paige, B.S. Covino Jr.,“Leachability of Lead from Selected Copper-Base Alloys,”Corrosion48, 12 (1992):p. 1040-1046
http://dx.doi.org/10.5006/1.3315907

B.P. Boffardi, A.M. Sherbondy,“Control of Lead Corrosion by Chemical Treatment,” Corrosion47, 12 (1991):p. 966-975
http://dx.doi.org/10.5006/1.3585211