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Bridging Gaps in Publicly Accessible Data

Carly.Rospert
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How are Data Gaps Worked Around:

Sarnia, and the surrounding area around chemical valley, have 9 air monitoring stations in which air pollutants are monitored from the nearby petrochemical complex. Until 2017, only data from one of these stations (the one on Christina Street in downtown Sarnia) was publicly available. This created a gap in accessiblility of important data for sarnia and the nearby AFN residents. In September 2015, the Clean Air Sarnia and Area group launched as a "community advisory panel made up of representatives from the public, government, First Nations, and industry, who are dedicated to providing the community with a clear understanding of ambient air quality in the Sarnia area." This group works to improve air quality in Sarnia by making information about air quality publicly available and by making recommendations to relevant authorities. In 2018, this group launched the website: https://reporting.cleanairsarniaandarea.com/ (also uploaded as an artifact) which allows public to access data from the air quality monitoring stations and understand how air quality compares to Ontario's standards. This site works to fill the gap of publicly available air quality data in Sarnia.

Standards Undercutting Safety

Carly.Rospert
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This report from Ecojustice shows a decline in air pollution compared to Ecojustice's first report released in 2007 for the area around Chemical Valley, yet Sarnia industries continue "to release far more pollution, and in particular far more SO2 , than comparable U.S. refineries." One contributor to the continued excessive emissions is Ontario's lagging air quality standards. The report notes that "Ontario’s AAQC and air quality standards are lagging behind current science on the health impacts of air pollutants, which may put the health of residents at risk." The report highlights pollutants where Ontario's standard is above the national standard or where Ontario has no standard at all. Additionally, Sarnia's benzene emissions are exempt from Ontario's health-based standard for this chemical and are instead regulated by  "an industry technical-based standard" allowing benzene levels to be far higher than the health-based standard. The lagging, lack of, or exemption from regulation undercut efforts in monitoring and reducing emissions to a "safe" level as what is considered "safe" by standards is out of line with what is considered "safe" by health and other standards.

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joerene.aviles
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1. Under private equity ownership, some ambulance response times worsened, heart monitors failed and companies slid into bankruptcy, according to a Times examination of thousands of pages of internal documents and government records, as well as interviews with dozens of former employees. In at least two cases, lawsuits contend, poor service led to patient deaths.

2. “Private equity has, in this case, threatened public safety,” said Richard Thomas, the mayor of Mount Vernon, N.Y, which relied on TransCare. “It’s not the way to treat the public.”

3.  Do the Write Thing “didn’t sit well with the firefighters,” said Nico Latini, who has worked at Rural/Metro for a decade. “We operate under a high level of integrity and we do the right thing every day — with an R, not a W.”

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joerene.aviles
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The main point of the article is that private ambulance and fire department agencies have questionable policies and business practices that hurt not only patients but also their employees. It's supported with anecdotal evidence following several agencies that have filed for bankruptcy, going over incidents of lateness, understaffing, lack of supplies, and aggressive billing or lawsuits to get payments from patients.

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joerene.aviles
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Private equity firms like "Warburg Pincus, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company" that invest in emergency medical services.

TransCare EMS, an EMS provider owned by the firm Patriarch Partners that served East coast states, filed for bankruptcy; had trouble paying its employees and was losing contracts with counties.

Rural/Metro, another privately owned EMS/fire provider known for lateness, suing patients, and had deteriorating patient care, and was losing contracts with counties in several states.

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joerene.aviles
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The article addresses the public health inequities caused by for-profit ambulance agencies, which can put low-income families in a worse situation when they bill outrageously and/or sue their patients after sometimes providing sub-par or negligent treatment. Also shows the poor examples of emergency response when first responders are delayed due to understaffing or don't have the drugs/ equipment to adequately treat patients ("hospital shopping" done by desparate ambulance agencies). 

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Andreas_Rebmann
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"Today, people interact with private equity when they dial 911, pay their mortgage, play a round of golf or turn on the kitchen tap for a glass of water."

"Supervisors regularly paid for supplies out of their own pockets and hoped for reimbursement, emails show. Some workers said the ambulances carried expired medications. Others went “E.R. shopping.”  "