Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) is pleased to announce that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded $1 million to Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering to develop tactics to protect children from harmful emissions from controlled wildland burns. The project would provide equipment and new communications approaches to middle and high schools in Albany and Columbus.
“This project will have broad implications on the air quality in the greater Columbus and Albany areas and can help improve the lives of tens of thousands of residents in middle and southwest Georgia,” said Congressman Bishop. “I am pleased to see the EPA and Georgia Tech working with our schools in Albany and Columbus to help track, raise awareness about, and protect our children from the harmful effects of air pollution that can lead to health problems and undermine their academic performance.”
For the next year, the researchers will deliver daily fire impact forecasts to each school, while also installing air purifiers and low-cost air quality monitors. Data from those monitors will be broadcast in real-time inside and outside classrooms. The Georgia Tech team will also create new curricula for teachers and students that increase understanding of air pollutants, their sources, and mitigation measures.
The program is focusing on Albany and Columbus, Georgia as well as Phenix City, Alabama due to their close proximity to regular controlled burns as well as the socioeconomics of the impacted communities. In the past, the EPA has cited Columbus for high levels of air pollutants.
With the increased frequency of wildfires due to the impact of climate change, communities are increasingly using prescribed fires to help prevent larger and more disastrous wildfires. Both types of fire are a source of air pollutants. The highest levels of these emissions occur during school hours, when burns are most active, and these levels remain high well into evening hours.
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