On May 29, Imperial County community members, the organization Comité Cívico del Valle (CCV), the Public Health Institute’s California Environmental Health Tracking Program (CEHTP) and partners will celebrate the launch of an ambitious new monitoring network aimed at putting the power of data and technology directly into the hands of residents to take action to protect their health in the face of a growing air pollution crisis.
Join them at the public unveiling of the first of a series of air pollution monitors, at Brawley Union High School on May 29. Scientists, community organizations, local officials and community members on the project will be available for interviews (in English and Spanish).
In Imperial County, the polluted air makes it risky to be a young child. Imperial children have an asthma ER rate that is nearly twice the state average.
Through a study funded by the National Institutes of Health, community members will begin installing up to 40 air pollution monitors at locations—selected by community members themselves—throughout the county. The new data will generate highly-detailed, publicly available maps of the county’s air pollution by location and time—creating an accurate, scientifically rigorous and detailed picture of air pollution “hot spots” near vulnerable populations. School officials, families and community members will use this information to take steps to protect community health. The detailed data will also enable them to push for better regulations and policies to reduce air pollution and improve health.
Who:
Jose Flores, teacher at Brawley Union High School and project participant (MC)
Luis Olmedo, Executive Director of Comité Cívico del Valle
Galatea King, MPH, Health Surveillance Director of the Public Health Institute’s California Environmental Health Tracking Program
Michael Jerrett, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles
Michael Benjamin, PhD, Chief of the California Air Resources Board Monitoring & Laboratory DivisionAssemblymember Eduardo Garcia, California State Assemblymember, 56th District
Ryan Kelley, Chairman of the Imperial County Board of Supervisors
Brayan Felix, Brawley Union High School Student
When:
Friday, May 29, 2015
8:30am – 9:30am
Where:
Brawley Union High School
480 N Imperial Ave, Brawley, CA 92227
—
For more information or to confirm attendance, contact Jennifer Scroggins at jennifer.scroggins@phi.orgor 510-285-5512.
