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By Scott G. Knowles: As part of the STL Anthropocene Field Campus the research team visited the Wood Refinery Refinery History Museum on March 9, 2019. This museum is located on the grounds of the Wood River Refinery, a Shell Oil refinery built in 1917 and today owned by Phillips 66. The site is Roxana, Illinois, just upriver from Granite City, and just over two miles from the convergence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Sitting on the actual grounds of the refinery, the museum is an invitation to think across the micro, meso, and macro scales of the Quotidian Anthropocene, in terms of geography and also in terms of time. This refinery was built at the crux of the WWI, at a time when United States petrochemical production was entering an intensive phase of production, invention, corporate structuring, and global engagement. The museum is an invitation to think across temporal scales, backwards to the start of the refinery--through the individual lives of the workers and engineers whose lives defined the refinery--and forward to indeterminate points of future memory. This photo captures a key moment in an informal interview we did with one of the history guides. He had worked in the museum for decades before retiring. He explained to us that the museum sits in the former research facility of the refinery--and the glass plat he is showing reveals a beautiful artifact, a photograph made of the complex when it was built. Our guide only showed us this collection of slides after our conversation had advanced, perhaps after he was sure we were truly interested in his story, and the deeper history of the refinery. The pride in the place, the community of workers, and the teaching ability of the museum was manifest. The research team felt impressed, but also concerned about the health impacts (and naturally the environmental impacts as well) of the refinery. There was a mismatch in the scales--the memory of the individual tied to emotions of pride and knowledge of hard work done there--and the Anthropocene, global scale of petrochemicals. How do we resolve this mismatch? The glass plate is somehow a clue.

The authors present the modernization and globalization of nations and the emerging global threat of infectious diseases as the primary catalysts for the intersection of various organizations concerned with biosecurity and public health. Numerous national and multi-national organizations have reacted to this emerging threat by developing new strategic frameworks to promote prevention and preparedness. The increase in tension among various organizations on developing effective strategies is indicative of the overlapping fields of national security, biosecurity, public safety, and global health. 

The primary responsibility of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is "...to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance." The mission is to improve the safety and health of workers in all industries.

The author supports his case by citing various articles of legislation, highlighting the anecdotal accounts from affected immigrants, and presenting the perspective of physicians who are tasked with caring and treating for these patients. 

In addition to coordinating the various local, state, and federal resources in the response efforts to a disaster, FEMA provides various resources to emergency response organizations including education and funding.

As previously stated, the author relies on anecdotal evidence provided by patient interviews and the observations made by the author. In addition, the author presents statistical data on patients in the regions referenced in the article.

The BSVAC consists of EMTs of various ages who provide service to the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn. The organization responds to approximately 1,300 emergency calls annually.

The NYS Ebola Preparedness Plan was developed by the Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York State Police, Office of Health Commissioner Howard A. Zucker, and various hospitals throughout New York and New York City.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs is a federal organization with cabinet-level status. The DVA employs approximately 345,000 people across hundreds of facilities and is headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. The DVA offers benefits such as healthcare, education, and financial assistance to 21.8 million veterans and their families as of 2014.  

The author presents the numerous issues, both ethical and logistical, surrounding the Riker's Island prison as the primary motivating factors behind the calls to reform or shut down the facility, both from government officials and the public. The author cites a variety of sources supporting these movements.