Tonawanda Risk Ranking Public Meeting a Success!
Thank you to everyone who came out to our big Tonawanda wide risk ranking event on February 20th!
Nearly 200 people joined us at the Brounshidle Post #2 to learn the results of a years-worth of community-based environmental health research in Tonawanda NY. City of Tonawanda Mayor Ronald Pilozzi & Erie County Legislator Kevin Hardwick were in attendance. There was also representation from Congressman Brian Higgins office, State Senator Mark Grisanti’s office, the Town Supervisor’s office.
This process was made possible through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Community Action for a Renewed Environment or CARE program. Through CARE, a community is able to conduct a broad based assessment using citizen based research to identify the most dangerous risks to health then and create solutions to reduce toxics and save lives.
At the Clean Air Coalition we value resident knowledge. The research Tonawanda residents have conducted over the last year has been built on this value. Over the last year, we’ve engaged 1,341people in activities such as:
- 8 workshops, including workshops on the Toxic Release Inventory, Freedom of Information Act, Zoning and Land Use, and Pollution Prevention.
- Air testing in 3 community identified locations
- PhotoVoice; a participatory photography method for resident’s to capture the social and environmental determinants of health
- 3 focus group sessions to receive feedback on community health concerns
- Went door to door to 1,000 residents homes
During the meeting on the 20th, residents received a ballot and after visiting 7 research stations, voted on the top 5 environmental health risks in Tonawanda. The results of these ballots will be counted by our CARE leadership team and released to the public in March.
The top 5 environmental health risks will guide our future work in Tonawanda. Thank you to everyone who attended!
