EiJ Hazard: PFAS
FOR ECOGOVLAB/CCEJP CURRICULUM: Use this as a research resource during 11th and 12th Grade Lesson 2 on Hazards.
FOR ECOGOVLAB/CCEJP CURRICULUM: Use this as a research resource during 11th and 12th Grade Lesson 2 on Hazards.
CITIZEN SCIENCE
Epistemic negotiation
Stakeholders (indigenous groups, activist, scientist, scholars, etc)
I hope to be involved in projects that aim to gather scientific evidence to inform environmental decision making and advocate for greater equity and justice in environmental governance. Through this work, I hope to learn the skills needed to engage in community based research and leverage community knowledge as expert knowledge. In my department, things are often siloed and issues are only seen through one perspective. I really want to gain more experience in collaborating with a wide array of stakeholders to come up with approaches to mitigate the environmental injustices experienced in under-resourced communities.
EPA is collecting data about the air quality in the ironbound communities. This data is used to find what causes the air pollution and EPA is working to fix the problem and improve the overall health of the communities
Officials are looking to change something like the trucks within the port industry in Newark to counteract air pollution while keeping in mind the jobs of many who can be affected by the changes. The port of New York and New Jersey supplies 270,000 jobs and $36 billion in economic activity for shipping. If the possible changes were implemented, they must make sure that this industry is not impacted negatively because that can hurt the communities connected to the industry.
In the future, I do believe that industrial development and sustainable development are compatible because there is a possibililty of a new source of green energy that is not fossil fuel that can aid both developments. However, currently I do not believe that it is possible to have industrial and sustainable development together with the current resources that we have. Fossil fuels are too harmful for the environment while implementation of green energy in industry is too costly and will not yield the same amount of productivity. Once there is a source that is as powerful and easy to implement, such as fossil fuel, becomes apparent, or companies/officials find an efficient way to implement green energy into industry, then industrial and sustainable development will become compatible.
Air pollution in Newark that is caused by port traffic, waste facilities, industrial plants, and trucks. Some of the air pollution in New Jersey is also caused by air pollution drifting in from Pennsylvania.
One of the possible solutions to air pollution is the truck replacement program where old trucks are being replaced with newer trucks to "curb diesel emissions, and that low-sulfur fuels were making ships’ engines run cleaner." However, this is difficult to implement because it can affect the jobs of many truckers and trucking companies by limiting how many pickups they can make.
A GoogleDoc link to a bibliogrpahy about PFAS in Santa Ana and community-led responses