GASP Files Civil Rights Complaint Against JCDH
GASP has filed a civil rights environmental discrimination complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency against the Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) for its issuance of the operating permit for ABC Coke, a division of Drummond Company located in...
Tell the EPA to Strengthen Ozone Standards
For many people, unhealthy air is synonymous with smog — the dirty fog that blankets most major urban and industrial areas. Ozone, the primary ingredient that makes up smog, is one of six criteria air pollutants regulated under the National Ambient Air Quality...
Gasp Files Comments in Support of National Priorities List Proposal
Gasp has filed comments in support of the EPA's proposed rule to add the 35th Avenue Superfund site to the National Priorities List. "The NPL is intended primarily to guide the EPA in determining which sites warrant further investigation to assess the nature and...
More Than Football: UAB Needs Academic Integrity and Independence
Change is in the Air Dr. Ray Watts, then-senior vice-president and dean of the UAB School of Medicine, established the Clean Air Initiative in 2012. Combining private and public dollars, it was designed to be an interdisciplinary partnership of UAB’s Schools of...
Solar Works: A Look at Florida’s Solar Landscape
When we launched our Solar Works campaign a few months ago, our aim was to shine a light on Alabama's opportunity to pivot toward a more sustainable, independent energy future. As a Sun Belt state, Alabama would seem poised to take full advantage of the benefits...
Let’s Talk About Energy Efficiency, Clean Energy
As temps dip down into the teens this week, many people are looking for ways to simultaneously conserve energy and stay nice and warm. While conservation tips are helpful in the short-term, it's also important to think about long-term energy efficiency measures we can...
Deadline Nearing for EPA National Priorities List Proposal
The deadline to comment on the Proposed Rule No. 61 is two weeks away. The proposal would add north Birmingham's 35th Avenue Superfund Site to the National Priorities List, an Environmental Protection Agency designation that would allow the federal government to fund...
Why 2014 Was a Great Year for GASP, Air Quality
GASP is a young organization, but we have achieved significant milestones in our five brief years (including two as Alabama First). Please take a moment to watch our 2014 year in review video below and the infographic detailing just a handful of the work we have done...
Op-Ed: UAB, Public Service Commission operating under same rules
The following op-ed was published on al.com Tuesday, Dec. 22. View it and weigh in here. In following recent local news, I am struck by the similar circumstances between the demise of UAB's football program and the way in which Alabama Power's electricity rates are...
Industrial Pollution May Increase Risk of Adverse Birth Outcomes
Science has for a while now posited that there is a strong correlation between exposure to toxic air pollution and negative birth outcomes. A new cross-sectional study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham was recently released. It looked into the...
The Link Between Dirty Air and ADHD
An article in the journal PLOS One concludes that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during pregnancy increases a child's risk of childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public...
Support Adding North Birmingham to National Priorities List
This post has been updated to reflect the EPA's 60-day extension of the public comment period. The previous comment period was set to expire Nov. 22, 2014. The extended comment period will expire Jan. 20, 2015. The EPA recently proposed that the 35th Avenue Superfund...
Study: Want to Save Lives? Cut Carbon Emissions.
Reducing carbon emissions from existing power plants will save lives. So says a new study from scientists at Harvard, Syracuse, and Boston University. The researchers found that the Clean Power Plan (the EPAâs proposal to reduce carbon emissions from existing power...
EPA Hosting Public Meeting for Birmingham Superfund Site
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it has scheduled a public meeting Thursday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. The meeting will take place in the sanctuary of Trinity CME Church (3313 Shuttlesworth Dr., Birmingham, AL 35207). The meeting is about the...
EPA Proposes Adding North Birmingham Site to National Priorities List
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing the "35th Avenue Superfund Site" in north Birmingham to the National Priorities List (NPL). According to the EPA, the site poses "risks to human health and the environment." The GASP documentary "Toxic City:...
GASP Petitions Board of Health to Disapprove ABC Coke Permit, Requests Hearing
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Aug. 25, 2014) — GASP, a non-profit health advocacy organization, filed a petition Tuesday with the Jefferson County Board of Health requesting a hearing on ABC Cokes Operating Permit. That permit was issued by the Jefferson County Department of...
Lack of Health Research Stands in the Way of Progress
On Wednesday, July 30, the Jefferson County Department of Health held a press conference in which Jefferson County Health Officer Mark Wilson — our Doctor-in-Chief — presented "cancer data, death rate data and birth outcome data related to residents'...
GASP Challenges Twinkle Cavanaugh on Health Benefits of Clean Power Plan
This morning, AL.com published an op-ed challenging Twinkle Cavanaugh, president of the Alabama Public Service Commission, for comments she made live on Good Day Alabama last week in a debate with Dr. Stephen A. Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy...
Is Indoor CO2 Pollution Hurting Our Brain Function?
Vox, a relatively new, data-driven online media outlet, published an article today with a fascinating headline "The carbon dioxide trapped in your meeting is making you think more slowly" that we thought we would investigate. Reporter Joseph Stromberg explains,...
Sign on to Support the Clean Power Plan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this summer proposed the Clean Power Plan, which would reduce carbon pollution from existing power plants by 30 percent by 2030. These new standards are a significant step forward in tackling climate change and protecting...
Alabama Power to Close Coal Units
Last Friday, Alabama Power announced that it is closing two small coal units at Plant Gorgas (the oldest units at the plant), as well as reducing or eliminating coal from four others at Plant Barry and Plant Greene County. The company said the move is to comply with...
Alabama Sixth Most Energy Expensive State
Wallet Hub this week published a report that gives Alabama a dubious ranking: the sixth most energy expensive state. The website used data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection...
Dirty Air Won’t Monitor Itself
Makaya Parrish, who appears in our documentary, "Toxic City: Birmingham's Dirty Secret," knows all too well what pollution can do to your health. Makaya has asthma, a debilitating lung condition that keeps her from playing like other kids. Her family lives in the line...
Air Pollution Controls Save Lives
A 17-year longitudinal study by researchers at Duke University released in June shows that air pollution controls implemented in the early 1990s correspond with reductions in death rates from emphysema, asthma and pneumonia. The study, "Long-term dynamics of death...
Eat Your Broccoli
One of the most toxic chemicals found in polluted air is benzene, an aromatic hydrocarbon found in crude oil and petrochemicals such as coal. According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), long-term exposure to benzene causes cancer, including...
'Toxic City' Premiere Sparks Fiery Discussion About Pollution, Justice
Hundreds packed into Birmingham's historic Carver Theatre last night for the premiere of our new documentary, "Toxic City: Birmingham's Dirty Secret." The film, directed by Alabama filmmaker Hunter Nichols, evoked an emotional response from those in the audience a...
How-To Guide for Commenting on Walter Coke's Permit
PERMIT BASICS The Clean Air Act gives the Environmental Protection Agency authority to issue permits known as Title V Operating Permits to sources of hazardous air pollutants. The EPA gives authority to state and local agencies to review and approve permits. In...
Supreme Court Delivers Victory for Clean Air
The Supreme Court today announced a decision hailed by health and environmental advocates as a victory for clean air. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is a 2011 Environmental Protection Agency regulation that requires certain states to reduce emissions from power...
Infographic on Health, Pollution, and ABC Coke
GASP has created an infographic (below) containing factual information about the health effects of air pollution as well as findings from the ABC Coke draft permit comments. Click here to download the infographic (PDF).
Pollution Affects Poor People, Communities of Color More
Researchers at the University of Minnesota this week published a compelling report in the journal PLOS ONE on the gaps in exposure to NO2 pollution in whites compared to poor communities and people of color. The results are an alarming call to action. The research...
