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.
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.
Newspaper article
The authors cite their own previous work and how rates of diseases and deaths changed. They also researched other programs and studies, similar to their own but in different areas or working on other issues. They also familiarized themselves with how things work within a physicians office - how diseases are presented, how promininent social issues may be, and other factors that the physician might see.
There are many citations, but the reference pages are not included, so it is not known what exactly the citations are, perhaps research papers or studies.
Many examples of responses to outbreaks are studied, and how regualtions stemmed from each outbreak, whether in animals, food industry, or vaccinations.
The school parent was interesting - explaining that the public image of resiliance was paid for by the lungs of the children being sent back into the uncleaned schools.
The person in charge of sending out the EPA press releases (and heavily editing them) had previously fought against the EPA for large companies.
The doctors eventually noticed the issues and tried to get more of the first responders evaluated and treated.
The first responders that risked their lives saving others now can't get fair treatment or benefits to help recover. They want to work but can't.
They needed to testify that they were on the scene in front of a judge to get benefits.
"'Sometimes [the detainees] tell [the guards], 'we not locking in becuase its too hot,' Jackson says. Such refusal has often meant calling in the Emergency Services Unit, the jail version of a riot squad. REferred to as 'the turtles' by some detainees, the ESU is known to use extreme force when bringing people back to their cells"
This policy affects the insurance coverage for some populations, so that may impact how willing people are to be transported. The policy mostly deals with IMDs though, and those aren't as frequent for emergency responders, unless the individual was trying to harm themselves.
A GoogleDoc link to a bibliogrpahy about PFAS in Santa Ana and community-led responses