FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 16, 2023
Contact: Howard Rieger
hmrieger@gmail.com, 412-303-4942
Debra Smit, dsmit@breatheproject.org, 412-760-7677
SWPA’s 9th Virtual Resident-Led Town Hall – ZOOM
MONDAY, Jan. 23, 2023, 6:00 p.m., Zoom
The next SWPATH Resident-Led Town Hall will focus on personal stories from residents living in the environmental justice communities of Allegheny and Beaver counties who continue to suffer from our region’s poor air quality.
These personal pleas – which will highlight the lived experience of people who live closest to sources of pollution – will be shared with EPA Region 3 Administrator Adam Ortiz. The goal is to convey the need for immediate action on air quality in SWPA and the importance of setting the annual average air quality standard for particulate matter (PM) to 8ug/m3 or lower to protect the health of people from fine particles.
Long suffering residents in SWPA, especially the Mon Valley, clearly need a more health protective standard for PM 2.5.
Scientific studies affirm that people experience chronic and acute health reactions to PM 2.5 at any exposure level. (Cohen, Brauer et al). This means that a new standard should be as health protective as possible.