I'm all for that - but in this case the government was asleep at the wheel. If that happens, is one of the only ways to (empirically) fight back the kindness of

I'm all for that - but in this case the government was asleep at the wheel. If that happens, is one of the only ways to (empirically) fight back the kindness of a single professor? To keep this constructive, here are other options to have blown the whistle sooner (assuming the state and federal govts are not a willing party): - Area residents call in the press with pictures, that forces the govt to change (which it didn't seem worked well here, even with those pictures) - Find a single state representative (or several) who takes up the cause; get them to get some cash for an independent analysis - A few area businesses get together when they start seeing financial issues from the water and fund an expert to come in (or area residents crowdfund for an expert with a GoFundMe-type campaign) - Lawyers sensing a payday invest in an expert - Call up the local university (or in this case, get the interest of a far off uni) I'm hardly going to do a good brainstorm in an HN thread (especially without more reflection), but you get the idea. Assume the state and federal governments (executive branch) are not a willing party, what are a bunch of things you do to get an independent expert to run an empirically sound analysis sooner? (and without taking out a personal mortgage)