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...
ABC Coke Draft Permit Comments Due Friday, April 18
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Comments on the draft air pollution permit renewal for ABC Coke, a Drummond Company, are due to health department officials by close of business (4:30 p.m.) Friday, April 18. A copy of the draft permit can be found here. The Jefferson County...
Air Pollution Public Hearing Scheduled for Monday, April 14
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Last Month, GASP filed a request to the Jefferson County Department of Health for a public hearing regarding Drummond Company’s Title V operating permit for ABC Coke in Tarrant. JCDH granted that request and has scheduled the hearing for...
Focus Shifts to Public Hearing on ABC Coke Permit
Last month, GASP requested an informational meeting and public hearing from Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) to raise awareness about Drummond Company's Title V operating permit for ABC Coke, which is currently up for renewal. We were particularly...
Issues & Ales: Sustainable Development
On Wednesday, March 12, GASP Executive Director Stacie M. Propst, PhD, was a panelist for WBHM's March Issues & Ales, a monthly event hosted by the radio station's junior board. The event at WorkPlay was packed with engaged citizens interested in the evening's...
GASP Launches Pollution Hotline
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — GASP this week launched 1-866-581-GASP (4277), a hotline for Alabamians who live and/or work near toxic pollution sources such as power plants and industrial facilities to report complaints, especially as related to health issues. The outreach...
EPA Opposes Nucor Permit in Louisiana
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week published its objections to permits for a new Nucor manufacturing plant in Convent, La. The Times-Picayune reported the EPA's conclusions, saying "the plant will violate several provisions of the Clean Air Act." The...
Atlantic Report Highlights Health Risks from Neurotoxins
The Atlantic today published a report titled "The Toxins That Threaten Our Brains" that immediately caught our eye. The article starts by citing 2012 research from Harvard's Dr. David Bellinge, which found that Americans have lost 41 million IQ points due to exposure...
GASP Requests Venue, Time Change for ABC Coke Hearing
This morning, GASP Outreach Director Kirsten Bryant sent a letter to the Jefferson County Department of Health regarding the public hearing for Drummond Co.'s Title V operating permit. Bryant asked that "the time and venue for the public hearing be changed to provide...
Health Department to Hold Public Hearing on ABC Coke Air Pollution Permit
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — March 11, 2014 — The Jefferson County Department of Health (JCDH) has announced that it will hold a public hearing April 14 at 1 p.m. regarding a key air pollution permit. GASP this month requested the public hearing to provide further scrutiny of...
ABC Coke’s Pollution Permit Up for Renewal
"Jefferson County citizens and members of the North Birmingham Community Coalition have been assured that transparency and public engagement is a top priority for both the Jefferson County Health Department and EPA. Recently, EPA administrator Gina McCarthy stated...
Alabamians Have the Right to Breathe Clean, Healthy Air
In response to false accusations from the Alabama Coal Association and its allies, GASP released the following statement. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — GASP is a health advocacy organization focused on the negative health effects of toxic air pollution on the citizens of Alabama...
Toxic City: Birmingham's Dirty Secret
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A nonprofit health advocacy organization today announced a crowd-funding campaign for a documentary film called, “Toxic City: Birmingham’s Dirty Secret.” Hunter Nichols is directing the film, which will investigate the well-documented problem of...
WHO: Air Pollution Causes Cancer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An arm of World Health Organization (WHO) last week released a report on air pollution with some dire warnings. Based on data collected in 2010, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said that more than 220,000 people died that year...
2013 Blount County Solar Home Tour
Registration for Blount County Solar Home Tour, presented by Energize Alabama, is currently open! The tour is slated for 9 a.m. or 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6. The 3–4 hour tour takes you to four solar houses plus an optional bonus home. A...
Letter: PSC Doesn't Regulate Coal Industry
Dear Editor, I was struck by your story, “Ala. PSC candidates vow to fight for coal” on Sept. 20. The Public Service Commission plays a crucial role in oversight of monopolies like Alabama Power. It does not, however, regulate the coal industry, nor does it influence...
Op-Ed: Alabama Has Great Potential
This op-ed was submitted to the Montgomery Advertiser by GASP Communications Specialist Michael Hansen. Here it is in its entirety. I made Birmingham my home in 2008 when I moved here to pursue a master's degree from the University of Alabama. Though it took...
PSC Fails to Improve Transparency, Rates
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — August 16, 2013 — The Alabama Public Service Commission (PSC) this week voted to change the way it regulates Alabama Power Company's rates. The decision follows informal meetings that resulted from growing criticism of its ineffective, secretive...
The Emperor’s New Clothes: Alabama Power and the PSC
Alabama Power, with the consent of our elected officials, has gotten away with overcharging for electricity and the pollution associated with it. It’s time to stop pretending otherwise. They must be held accountable.
Informal PSC Meetings Short on Transparency, Accountability
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Residential and commercial customers may have gotten a small, fleeting peek behind the curtain yesterday at the final Public Service Commission proceeding on the rates and profits for the state’s largest utility, but ultimately, the obscure...
Kirsten Bryant's Remarks to the PSC July 17
On Wednesday, July 17, hundreds of interested parties crowded into the Alabama Public Service Commission's meeting room, lobby, and overflow room to hear presentations and witnesses from Alabama Power (and their allies) as well as from organizations like GASP...
Stacie Propst's Remarks to the PSC July 17
On Wednesday, July 17, hundreds of interested parties crowded into the Alabama Public Service Commission's meeting room, lobby, and overflow room to hear presentations and witnesses from Alabama Power and their allies and organizations like GASP who believe that...
Op-Ed: The Smokescreen of Coal
As we exit the last Public Service Commission meeting, there is something nagging me about the rhetoric that surrounds this process. It’s all the caterwauling about coal. The actual purpose of these meetings is to “informally” review how Alabama Power and the PSC...
Petition Asks for Action from Attorney General
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Alabama Public Service Commission's "public meetings" about Alabama Power's rates are well underway at this point. To continue to put pressure on the powers that be, GASP has created a petition on the popular site change.org. We're asking our...
GASP Challenges Southern Company CEO Thomas Fanning at Annual Meeting
BIRMINGHAM, Ala — On Wednesday, May 22, 2013, Kirsten Bryant, Outreach Director for GASP, joined Southern Company shareholders at Callaway Gardens for the company’s annual meeting, directly questioning Chairman and CEO Thomas Fanning about the lack of transparency at...
Education to Action
Led by the UAB School of Public Health, Education to Action is an after-school program at Hudson Elementary in Collegeville where kids receive hands-on learning experiences covering a variety of topics related to their environment. GASP was honored to participate by...
GASP Participates in 2013 Earth Day Celebrations at Railroad Park
On April 21, 2013, millions of people gathered across the globe to participate in Picnic for the Planet, the Nature Conservancy’s Earth Day event. Birmingham was included in the effort. Hundreds showed up at Railroad Park for the festivities, including GASP...