Contact:
Jilisa Milton, Executive Director
Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP)
Email: [email protected] | Phone: 205-240-5783
Website: www.gaspgroup.org\

GASP Responds to Termination of EPA Grant for Community Monitoring in North Birmingham and Beyond

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA , [May 21, 2025] — The Greater-Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP) has received notice that its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Community Monitoring Grant, awarded through the Small Grants Program, has been abruptly and unjustly terminated. This funding supported critical community-based air monitoring work in environmental justice (EJ) communities, particularly in North Birmingham and surrounding neighborhoods that have long been disproportionately burdened by industrial pollution and systemic disinvestment.

This decision impacts the ability of frontline communities in Birmingham to access and use important information about the air they breathe—information that plays a key role in protecting their health, safety, and future.The termination of this grant threatens to stall efforts already underway to empower residents, build local capacity, and hold polluters accountable through science-driven, community-led advocacy.

“For decades, residents of North Birmingham and other historically marginalized communities have been forced to live in the shadow of toxic industries with little support or transparency,” said Jilisa Milton, Executive Director of GASP. “The grant made it possible for us to monitor and document the pollution people live with everyday. Revoking this support sends a message that the health of Black, Brown, and low-income communities in Alabama is disposable.”

GASP believes the termination is unfounded and plans to formally dispute the decision. The organization stands firm in its mission to ensure communities have the tools and knowledge to fight for their own environmental health and rights. GASP will not allow bureaucratic or political interference to silence the voices of those demanding clean air and environmental accountability.

In response, GASP will:

• Formally challenge the EPA’s decision
• Continue community air monitoring efforts using alternative funding, partnerships, and grassroots infrastructure wherever possible.
• Amplify the voices of affected residents and ensure the public and media are informed about the continued environmental injustice in the region.
• Engage partners, legal allies, and elected officials to push back against the suppression of community-driven environmental justice work.
• Continue building its commitment to serve as a model for community monitoring and citizen science, especially in underserved communities

GASP remains deeply committed to its long-standing goal of helping residents generate their own trusted data and take collective action for clean air.The loss of this grant is not the end — it is a call to action. GASP will continue to lead with integrity, and will build toward an even stronger vision of community-led monitoring and environmental justice. The people of North Birmingham and other EJ communities deserve nothing less than a full commitment to their health and safety.

For media inquiries or to learn more about how you can support, please contact Jilisa Milton at [email protected] or 205-240-5783.