SY042-03
Making the Invisible Visible - Community Science for Environmental Monitoring in the Ohio River Valley

Friday, 11 December 2020: 07:12
Virtual
Garima Raheja1, Lyssa Freese2, Beverly Reed3, Leatra Harper4, Yuri Alan Gorby5 and Ben Hunkler3, (1)Columbia University of New York, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Palisades, NY, United States, (2)Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States, (3)Concerned Ohio River Residents, Dilles Bottom, OH, United States, (4)FreshWater Action Project, Grand Rapids, OH, United States, (5)Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
Belmont County, Ohio located within the Ohio River Valley, is one of the most heavily industrialized communities in the United States. Pollution from more than 600 shale drilling hydraulic fracturing operations, combined with injection wells and waste disposal from surrounding communities, along with a proposed ethane cracker plant, have created concern in the community over the air quality in the region, and its health impacts. Meteorological conditions in the region lead to frequent temperature inversions, which further exacerbate air quality concerns.

Belmont County remains minimally monitored by conventional infrastructure, with a single US Environmental Protection Agency monitoring location in Shadyside, Ohio providing baseline monitoring. This does not provide the spatial or temporal coverage needed to monitor sudden local spikes in emissions that community members are concerned about.

The Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR) is a collective advocating for a safe, healthy, and sustainable Ohio River Valley region. CORR has partnered with the American Geophysical Union - Thriving Earth Exchange’s Community Science Program to develop a model for inclusive, democratic community-based citizen science in order to address concerns over air quality monitoring and community health impacts. Through establishing a low-cost sensor network maintained by community residents, holding online and in-person community town halls, organizing public actions, partnering with university scientists for air quality sampling, modeling, and research, and effectively using social media for community outreach and input, CORR has developed a successful coalition working towards filling these gaps. We will discuss initial results from our sensor network, visualizations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) plume model used for communication, and lessons and recommendations for inclusive community-based research, knowledge production, and activism.

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