Trending...
- Las Vegas Attorney Thomas Boley Publishes Free Plain-English Guide to 100 Nevada Criminal Laws, in English and Spanish
- Inglewood Associates and Gordon Brothers Provide Update on Sale Process for 925 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland
- Lunai Bioworks (N A S D A Q: LNAI) Takes Parkinson's Discovery to the Next Level With Exclusive Tanaist Agreement
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League released a report which shows that hazardous air quality during the Weaver Fertilizer Plant fire was downplayed.
The report Winston-Salem Weaver Fertilizer Plant Fire - Analysis of Publicly Disseminated Air Quality Information During Facility Fire Incident highlights instances when local officials told the public that the air quality was okay and pollutants were just "irritants" when, in fact, levels of Particulate Matter 2.5 were in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's hazardous and very unhealthy categories.
It has been six months since the Weaver fertilizer plant fire which began on the evening of January 31. BREDL has recently received EPA air quality data through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which show that hazardous air quality conditions were downplayed during this industrial incident. We are still waiting for information from a March 22, 2022 open records request with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
More on ncarol.com
The report compares official statements to the then current air quality data, specifically PM 2.5. This air quality data was available to the fire command center in real time but was not available to the general public.
Once EPA set up temporary air monitors around the perimeter of the fire, 29 hours into the incident, the PM 2.5 readings were well into the hazardous category. These air monitors became operational around midnight on Wednesday, February 2.
Five hours later during a press conference officials stated that "all levels have been in the acceptable range". While, in fact, PM 2.5 concentrations were as high as 9200 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) at the temporary air monitor located at the Wake Forest University police station. EPA community action hazardous conditions start at a concentration of 500 ug/m3.
Mark Barker, author of the BREDL Report, said, "On the afternoon of February 2 a Wake Forest University alert stated that the EPA indicated air quality readings on and near campus posed no threat to individual health and was safe to breathe. However, the on campus EPA air quality data indicated hazardous and very unhealthy PM 2.5 levels."
More on ncarol.com
PM 2.5 has long been associated with significant health effects especially impacting respiratory and heart conditions.
The community within a one-mile radius of the Weaver facility has a high prevalence of asthma and heart disease according to EPA's EJScreen tool.
Barker said, "Our analysis leads us to make several recommendations for local, state and federal officials during industrial incidents: be transparent in reporting air quality and associated health impacts, make air quality data available to the public, include an air quality expert in incident press briefings and statements, utilize EJScreen to identify vulnerable communities, and incorporate temporary air monitors into existing EPA current air quality maps."
The BREDL report is available online at www.bredl.org/reports.htm.
Contact: Mark Barker
(540) 342-5580 (landline)
(540) 525-5241 (mobile)
[email protected]
SOURCE Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League Inc
The report Winston-Salem Weaver Fertilizer Plant Fire - Analysis of Publicly Disseminated Air Quality Information During Facility Fire Incident highlights instances when local officials told the public that the air quality was okay and pollutants were just "irritants" when, in fact, levels of Particulate Matter 2.5 were in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's hazardous and very unhealthy categories.
It has been six months since the Weaver fertilizer plant fire which began on the evening of January 31. BREDL has recently received EPA air quality data through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which show that hazardous air quality conditions were downplayed during this industrial incident. We are still waiting for information from a March 22, 2022 open records request with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
More on ncarol.com
- Miley Is Going by One Name. KayeDinero Just Put Her Birth Name in a Song
- Growth Story Expands: $54.6M Contract, $30M Revenue Run Rate, 800+ Customers, 50+ Patents & New AI Cybersecurity Products for Cycurion, Inc $CYCU
- Sky Quarry Restarts Nevada's Only Crude Oil Refinery — A Major New Chapter Begins in This Highly Lucrative sector for N A S D A Q: SKYQ
- Nutriband Inc. (N A S D A Q: NTRB) Breaks Into Uncharted Territory: 52-Week High Eclipsed as Shares Surge 22% —AVERSA™ Puts Investors on High Alert
- TikTok's Song of Summer Is 15 Years Old. KayeDinero Is Betting on Memory Too
The report compares official statements to the then current air quality data, specifically PM 2.5. This air quality data was available to the fire command center in real time but was not available to the general public.
Once EPA set up temporary air monitors around the perimeter of the fire, 29 hours into the incident, the PM 2.5 readings were well into the hazardous category. These air monitors became operational around midnight on Wednesday, February 2.
Five hours later during a press conference officials stated that "all levels have been in the acceptable range". While, in fact, PM 2.5 concentrations were as high as 9200 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) at the temporary air monitor located at the Wake Forest University police station. EPA community action hazardous conditions start at a concentration of 500 ug/m3.
Mark Barker, author of the BREDL Report, said, "On the afternoon of February 2 a Wake Forest University alert stated that the EPA indicated air quality readings on and near campus posed no threat to individual health and was safe to breathe. However, the on campus EPA air quality data indicated hazardous and very unhealthy PM 2.5 levels."
More on ncarol.com
- Jacqui Condon Selected to Workers' Compensation Panels for Three Professional Athlete Associations
- Google Mixed Up KayeDinero and Kayla Dinero. KayeDinero Brought Visual Receipts
- New Metallized PE Film from Pregis Brings Recyclability to High-Barrier Food Packaging at Pack Expo International in Chicago
- Drake Brings Jimmy Brooks Back as KayeDinero Turns Banks Ave Into a Nighttime Visual
- Transformational $104 Million Musculoskeletal Healthcare Opportunity as Expansion Strategy Accelerates for Cardiff Lexington Corp (Stock Symbol: CDIX)
PM 2.5 has long been associated with significant health effects especially impacting respiratory and heart conditions.
The community within a one-mile radius of the Weaver facility has a high prevalence of asthma and heart disease according to EPA's EJScreen tool.
Barker said, "Our analysis leads us to make several recommendations for local, state and federal officials during industrial incidents: be transparent in reporting air quality and associated health impacts, make air quality data available to the public, include an air quality expert in incident press briefings and statements, utilize EJScreen to identify vulnerable communities, and incorporate temporary air monitors into existing EPA current air quality maps."
The BREDL report is available online at www.bredl.org/reports.htm.
Contact: Mark Barker
(540) 342-5580 (landline)
(540) 525-5241 (mobile)
[email protected]
SOURCE Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League Inc
0 Comments
Latest on ncarol.com
- Your Local Pro Expands National Service Network to 273+ Locations Across Plumbing, Cleaning, Landscaping and Hydrovac
- Acuvance Coker Study Finds Experience, Not Supply, Is the Biggest Advanced Practice Provider Workforce Challenge
- Uk Financial Moonshot Token™ Robinhood-chain Goes Live On Tokpie Exchange Tomorrow, With Solana Side Of UKFLMS To Follow In Global Listing Expansion
- KayeDinero Took Her Voice Off the Beat — And Says the Music Got More Personal
- Solid Earth's new "Welcome to Real Estate" campaign introduces RealtyID™: Know Before Your Open the Door
- KayeDinero Didn't Stop Writing. She Stopped Putting Words on the Beat
- Radio Drive's New Album Walk With Me Delivers Two GRAMMY® Submissions Across Rock and Alternative Categories
- Before Python, There Was Chess: KayeDinero Makes Her Next Move With "Checkmate"
- Kaplan Morrell and Attorney Jacqui Condon Selected to Represent Professional Women's Soccer Players in Workers' Compensation Matters
- ClearSight Therapeutics Receives NIH SBIR Phase I Award for Conjunctivitis and EKC Research
- Lunai Bioworks (N A S D A Q: LNAI) Takes Parkinson's Discovery to the Next Level With Exclusive Tanaist Agreement
- Revenue Optics Names Prat Patibandla Director of Growth Marketing
- VMACS Offers Battery-Powered Heat & AC Systems for RVs and Vans
- Independent Autopsies Are Changing Civil Cases: Kansas City Forensic Explains Why Families Are Seeking Second Opinions
- JEGS Launches Transformed Digital Commerce Platform Powered by PhaseZero
- Subject matter experts: Present your ideas at IISE Annual Conference 2027 in Louisville
- Cummings Graduate Institute Celebrates New Doctor of Behavioral Health Graduates
- Data Tiles Challenges the Data Product Status Quo Following Antwerp Summit
- Visit London Appoints The SEO Works for AI-First Search Strategy
- Inglewood Associates and Gordon Brothers Provide Update on Sale Process for 925 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland