A community-engaged information-gathering effort is being conducted to inform air quality sampling strategy in Colfax, Louisiana, a low income, majority-Black community which hosts a hazardous materials thermal treatment (TT) facility. Our mixed-methods approach combines mapping with qualitative analysis to synthesize information on exposures within Colfax and the nearby community of The Rock, which are proximal to the TT facility. A review of public comments and oral history interviews procured self-reported concerns about health, smoke, noise, vibration, and damage to homes, which were then mapped. Insights gathered during the public comment and interview stage of this research is informing our air sampling strategy with respect to sampling locations and chemical composition of sampled particulate matter.

Bio

Jen Richmond-Bryant specializes in human exposure to air pollution. Her research has a particular emphasis on the influence of variability in human exposure to air pollution and related implications for interpreting epidemiologic study results. This includes studying the transport and dispersion mechanisms leading to spatiotemporal variability in concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous air pollutants and how such variability influences estimates of human exposure. While exploring physical aspects of air pollution, she has also studied air pollution in environmental justice communities and often uses her work to explore social justice issues while learning about transport and dispersion. Jen joined the Forestry and Environmental Resources faculty at North Carolina State University in 2019 to use her experience as a federal scientist to inform teaching and research. She served as an exposure assessment subject matter expert for the National Center for Environmental Assessment Environmental Media Assessment Group (EMAG) from 2008 to 2019, where she authored chapters of the Integrated Science Assessment on exposure assessment and/or atmospheric science for PM, ozone, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, and lead. Prior to joining the EPA in 2008, Jen was an Assistant Professor at the City University of New York (CUNY) Urban Public Health program. Her work has been published in several high impact journals, such as Environmental Health Perspectives, Environmental Science and Technology, Atmospheric Environment, and Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.