- A group opportunity. Invite your friends.
-
3 people are interested
Assist polluted communities as an Emergency Responder!
ORGANIZATION: Louisiana Bucket Brigade
Please visit the new page to apply.
- A group opportunity. Invite your friends.
-
3 people are interested
The Louisiana Bucket Brigade is an environmental health and justice organization collaborating with communities adjacent to petrochemical facilities throughout Louisiana. We support community’s use of grassroots action to create informed, sustainable neighborhoods free from industrial pollution. This is a challenge in a heavy industrialized region with 17 refineries, over 150 petrochemical plants and 60,000 offshore oil wells.
Since our inception in 2000 our community partners have made it clear that accidents at these facilities - not just ongoing operations - release chemicals that harm people’s health. The area’s storms compound the risk and create cascading disasters. Hurricane Katrina is a good example. Murphy Oil Refinery failed to follow its own preparedness guidelines and spilled one million gallons of oil into the neighborhood.
The goal of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) is to quantify the impacts of petrochemical accidents and ensure that community members’ experiences are acknowledged, documented and integrated into prevention efforts. We do this by: 1) Conducting door to door surveys after accidents to document the health impacts; 2) Training impacted communities to document real time impacts of chemical emergencies using LABB’s crowdsourcing tool, the iWitness Pollution Map; 3) Increasing local knowledge of current emergencies and historical patterns of accidents. This program collaborates with the U.S. Coast Guard to recruit/train the ERT and integrate ERT into Incident Command.
LABB is looking for Emergency Responders for Chemical Emergencies. This is an ongoing, long-term project. Responders will:
- Conduct door-to-door surveys after accidents to document impact;
- Train impacted communities (in times of calm) to document effects of chemical emergencies;
- Utilize LABB's nationally recognized crowdsourcing tool iWitness Pollution Map to document effects of emergencies in real time;
- Increase local knowledge of current emergencies and historical patterns of accidents;
- Gain experience in community outreach, capacity building and emergency response
More opportunities with Louisiana Bucket Brigade
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About Louisiana Bucket Brigade
Location:
4226 Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70119, US
Mission Statement
The Louisiana Bucket Brigade is an environmental health and justice organization supporting communities' use of grassroots action to become informed, sustainable neighborhoods free from industrial pollution.
Description
The EPA-approved "bucket" is a simple, community friendly tool that fenceline neighbors use to take air samples. Our purpose is to assist fenceline neighbors in their campaigns to make industry accountable for its pollution. We complement the community group by adding a level of technical expertise to their work. We provide this tool and training to community members to monitor and expose industrial pollution as it happens. The more evidence the communities gather, the more power they have to attain their goals.
Taking air samples is a powerful experience for community members who are used to being ignored, overlooked, and disrespected by corporations and government. Dorothy Jenkins, President of Concerned Citizens of New Sarpy, used to call the refinery to complain about the odors. A low ranking operator would tell her not to worry, that the black plume of smoke that billowed for hours near her home was not harmful. Now Mrs. Jenkins has a bucket. When refinery managers and government regulators tell her that there is nothing to worry about, she answers, "Why, then, was there a benzene reading of 14 in my air sample, a reading that violates the state standards?" The bucket gives community members power to hold institutions accountable to provide a safe and healthy environment.
CAUSE AREAS
WHEN
WHERE
4226 Canal St.New Orleans, LA 70119
DATE POSTED
October 28, 2014
SKILLS
GOOD FOR
- People 55+
- Group
REQUIREMENTS
- Orientation or Training