I met Marc Edwards in 2010. when I did a summer program at Virginia Tech. One of the most passionate people you'll ever meet. The big news then was water contamination in D.C. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_contamination_in_Washingt...), another project that Edwards spent much of his personal funds on. Fortunately then, his work earned him a MacArthur Genius Grant in 2007, helping him to pay back his debt.