New Citizen Science Resources for Environmental Justice

Citizen science initiatives for environmental monitoring are enabling communities to take their health into their own hands by conducting grassroots monitoring projects. Some of the most recent advances have occurred in the arena of air quality monitoring, providing more readily available resources and training for communities to fight for environmental justice using science. On July 9th, the EPA held a Community Air Monitoring Training Workshop, sharing tools and trainings to interested community groups on how to start and maintain community monitoring initiatives, and covering technologies that make monitoring more simple

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Community Fights to Preserve Historic School

The Ivy City section of the northeast Washington, DC is one of the oldest African American neighborhoods in the district, established in 1872. It is the home of the Alexander Crummell Elementary School that served the Black children of Ivy City and Trinidad, a neighboring community. The school was named in 1911 for Alexander Crummell, a noted abolitionist, educator and clergyman, and a champion for Black Lives in his time. The school was closed in 1977 and has been abandoned since. Residents fought and defeated a plan in 2013 by

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Remembering 9/11’s Effects on a Forgotten Community

By Kaley Beins At 8:45am on September 11, 2001, the first plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center, and so many lives fundamentally changed. Now, 14 years later, though we continue to remember the lives lost that day, the tragedy lives on in many ways. In the aftermath of the attacks, many New Yorkers criticized former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman for claiming, “Given the scope of the tragedy from last week, I am glad to reassure the people of New York … that their air is

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Where In The World Is Gina McCarthy?

Has EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy totally written off oversight and action in contaminated communities and the Superfund program? Is she just turning a deaf ear to the cries for help? McCarthy did visited Colorado after and EPA cleanup accidentally released a million gallons of toxic wastewater into the Animas River, a tributary of the Colorado River turning the water orange color. That was so big, so bad, she just couldn’t ignore it. McCarthy said about the accident, “It is a heartbreaking situation.” I can’t disagree with that but what about

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Katrina: 10 Years Later – An Uneven Recovery

Two days ago marked the 10th anniversary of the landfall of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast. The greatest impact was in the city of New Orleans where the failure of the federal levees submerged some 80% of the city. An estimated 400,000 people were evacuated or displaced from their homes and over 1,800 died, the majority of whom were from New Orleans. There were bands in the street celebrating the city’s recovery. Specials on CNN and network TV. President Obama stopped by, as did former presidents George W. Bush

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New Study Highlights Reproductive Risks from Fracking Chemicals

Could pollution from unconventional oil and gas drilling cause reproductive problems? Scientists at the University of Missouri are trying to answer this question. A study published yesterday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives assessed the research so far on endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing. The study presented research linking fracking to EDCs, and the authors recommended an increased focus on these compounds in assessing health risks from fracking pollution. Endocrine disrupting compounds are a class of chemicals that can alter the delicately balanced endocrine system

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