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EPA Announces $500,000 Grant for First-of-its-Kind Air Toxics Study in Rhode Island

Release Date: 08/28/2000
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it is awarding a $500,000 grant to the State of Rhode Island for a first-of-its-kind air monitoring pilot project that will measure toxic air pollutants in Providence and East Providence.

The grant to the R.I. Department of Environmental Management will pay for the installation and operation of five air monitoring stations that will gather data on volatile organic compounds (VOCs), metals, carbonyls and other toxic air pollutants that pose a potential health threat to Providence-area residents. The monitoring stations - four in Providence and one in East Providence - will be operated in coordination with the R.I. Department of Health.

Scheduled to be up and running before the end of the year, the monitoring project is the first of its kind in New England and one of only four major air toxics projects funded by EPA across the country.

"This unique project will tell us what air toxics Providence-area residents are being exposed to, where those pollutants are coming from, and what steps need to be taken," said Robert Mendoza, director of EPA New England's Rhode Island unit, who announced the grant outside the Myron Francis Elementary School in East Providence, where one of the monitoring stations will be installed.

The monitoring project is part of a larger nationwide effort by EPA in recent years to better understand the cumulative health impacts on population groups exposed to various air toxics in their communities. The centerpiece of that effort is the agency's Cumulative Exposure Project (CEP), which has used complex computer models to estimate exposure levels from an array of air toxics in census tracts across the country.

According to that modeling effort, levels of numerous air pollutants exceed health benchmarks in urban areas throughout the country, including the Providence area.

Mendoza said there were two primary reasons why Rhode Island was selected for the project: the potential health threat that air toxics pose in the Providence area and DEM and DOH's unique expertise on air toxics issues. DOH's Air Pollution Laboratory is well regarded for its analytical work. DEM has received praise for the comprehensive air toxics emissions inventory it has compiled over the past 10 years from hundreds of pollution sources across the state.

"The extensive monitoring data from this project combined with DEM's comprehensive inventory on sources of air toxics in the metropolitan area - sources such as vehicles, dry cleaners, metal cleaners and small surface coaters - will greatly boost our understanding about this complex problem," Mendoza said.

"DEM is excited about this project," added DEM Director Jan Reitsma, "because it will allow DEM and the Department of Health to determine whether residents in the state's urban areas are being exposed to unsafe levels of air toxics and, if so, to identify strategies to reduce such exposures."

Reitsma thanked EPA and the Rhode Island Congressional delegation for their support and added, "We particularly value the opportunity offered by this initiative to target Rhode Island's urban communities where public health an environmental concerns warrant at least as much attention as those affecting the state's rural communities."

"Few environmental issues are as critical as the air we breathe," said U.S. Senator Jack Reed, who joined Mendoza and Reitsma at today's announcement in East Providence. "We need to do more to protect our children from exposure to airborne toxins and the first step is to learn more about the levels of toxic substances present in our region's air."

"This significant study will allow us to gather important evidence about the potentially adverse health effects linked to toxic air pollutants," added U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee. "The selection of Rhode Island's Department of Environmental Management and Department of Health to conduct this study demonstrates that investing in technology to protect the environment pays dividends in the long run. It is my hope that this research will benefit not only the people of Rhode Island but citizens throughout the country."

"As an asthmatic, I know the importance of maintaining air quality standards," added Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy. "As I learned in my own childhood, air quality can have an enormous impact on a person's health. Researching possible methods of improving our air quality is not only a worthy investment, it is an essential one. I am proud that some of the first steps to achieving these goals in the nation are happening right here in Rhode Island."