Trending...
- Salestrics Releases Version 2.0 to Unify CRM, Business Email, and Operations on a Single Customer Graph
- New ProEssentials v11: Native WinUI Charting Library, 100M Points in 15ms, Following Microsoft's Vision for True Native Swap-Chain Rendering
- $620 Million in Recent Government Contract Awards with More Than $1.2 Billion in Annualized Revenue: Circle8 Group (N A S D A Q: CIRC)
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
- NVM Pet Celebrates a Decade of Growth by Honoring the People Behind Its Success
- Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino Celebrates Opening of Second Archangel Centers Location
- Big Money Retirement Opens Dedicated Charlotte Office to Better Serve Growing Client Base
- K2 Integrity Names Michael Kallabat Global Head of Investigations and Disputes
- Socialhose Eyes Southeast Asia and Rejects the Copy-Paste Expansion Playbook
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
- $40 Billion Global Market Value by 2030 Projected in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or Other Drone Technology Sector, Growing at 9.2% Compound Annual Growth
- Charlotte-based Steady Tax & Bookkeeping launches to support small businesses nationwide
- Recreation Ponds: The Next Big Backyard Pond Trend?
- $620 Million in Recent Government Contract Awards with More Than $1.2 Billion in Annualized Revenue: Circle8 Group (N A S D A Q: CIRC)
- Lewis County Hydrogen Alliance Launches Phase 1 Work to Turn Forest Residuals into Fuel-Grade Hydrogen and Dispatchable Clean Power
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
Filed Under: Business
0 Comments
Latest on ncarol.com
- Inlow Upholstery Offers Custom Boat Seat Reupholstery for Western North Carolina Lake Communities
- Aderra Opens in Magnolia, Texas, Offering a New Model for 62+ Homeownership
- What's New in Hokkaido, Autumn 2026
- Charlotte Investors Name Priority Property Group Among the City's Best Property Management Companies
- Gospel Artist and Media Executive Trevone Perry Heads to the 41st Stellar Gospel Music Awards
- KOLBUS America Welcomes New Sales Manager, Reid Crawley
- CRG Awarded NASA SEWP VI Contracts in Categories B and C
- Heidi G. Villari of The Villari Firm, PLLC Named to Super Lawyers for the Tenth Consecutive Year
- Elevate Your Sneakers With Crep Protect Trek Laces
- Meet Privateer: Tucson's High-Tech Security Force Built With Paramilitary Precision
- Humanbein Launches to Inspire Compassion Through Service, Opportunity, and Community
- Dynamic Dachshund Dog Goes Global: Remember Point Launches a New Bilingual Children's Book
- DARPA Selects NRx Pharmaceuticals Defense Subsidiary for Contract Negotiations on FDA-Authorized SPARC-TMS Clinical Trial Advancing Mental Health Care
- From the Racetrack to the Boardroom: Aston Martin and Aramco Formula One Partnership Accelerates Circle8 Group: (N A S D A Q: CIRC)
- NVM Pet Announces Leadership Transition, Promotes Next Generation of Executive Leadership
- U.N. Committee Reiterates Forced Psychiatric Detention a Human Rights Violation; CCHR Calls on the U.S. to Implement Protections
- Valgar LLC Launches The Briefing Room: Education Leaders
- New from Regal House Publishing, St. Ulphia's Dead, a dark comedy in the magical realist tradition
- New Novel WINCE Takes Unflinching Aim at American Gun Culture and Masculinity
- New Research Puts the Cost of Enterprise Decision Delay at $630 Billion a Year Across the Global 2000