Air Quality Town Hall #13: We Made a Difference – Time to Double-Down

At this month’s townhall Corey O’Connor (Allegheny County Auditor) will attend the first portion of this session to hear resident concerns that will impact his department’s announced audit of the Allegheny County Health Department Clean Air Fund (CAF).

Thanks to you all, last May Region 3 EPA Administrator Adam Ortiz accepted our invitation to tour the Mon Valley and meet with residents of Clairton and Braddock. Community voices of concern were loud and clear, and now EPA has backed that up with an announced 25% reduction in the annual standard for toxic PM2.5 air pollution, a move that we have been advocating for years. Residents have tried unsuccessfully to request that the CAF be utilized to address the real health needs of residents, rather than to meet the budgetary obligations of ACHD and the Mon Valley communities.

With a new County Administration, we are advocating for that to change. The Town Hall will also include bottom line results of a study of excess mortality in the region, accompanied by testimony about health implications for expectant mothers living in environmental justice communities closest to the toxic air that makes this one of the worst places to live in America.

Register