Representatives from a California-based watchdog organization will be in town this weekend to boost public awareness about environmental dangers associated with fracking — and attendees are expected to know how to detect pollution by the end of the program.
The Athens County Fracking Action Network will host the Global Community Monitor, a group that works in 25 countries to train citizens around the globe how to monitor pollution, Friday and Saturday. Already registered attendees will learn how to utilize a “Bucket Brigade” — a device that can detect air pollution.
“The whole conversation is for people to know what they’re breathing,” said Ruth Breech, the group’s program director. “We want to educate and empower our leaders on the ground.”
The name of the program derives from the pollution-monitoring device, which is housed in a five-gallon bucket, according to a release from the organization.
Because “the industry is good at keeping secrets,” citizens need to be able to detect pollution on their own, said Christine Hughes, a local participant in the Bucket Brigade and member of the Athens County Fracking Action Network.
“The best way to do this is directly rather than wait for government to catch up to this industry,” Hughes said.
The buckets, developed in the mid-1990s, measure chemicals down to the part-per-billion range and Breech said they are sensitive enough to react from smoking or perfume. In the sessions, citizens are trained to ignore false positives.
The bucket gathers a few liters of air in the bag and then the air goes through a pump system, according to the organization’s website. The bag of air is then sent off to a laboratory for analysis.
In order to be trained to use the bucket, which tests for 87 different compounds and costs about $600 for the bucket itself and lab tests, one must attend the six-hour class that will be held this weekend, Breech said, adding that the California-based group will pay for the bucket and testing done in Athens.
The out-of-towners and locals will tour local injection wells Friday and give a presentation to the public that night at Arts West, 132 W. State St. at 8 p.m.
On Saturday, the out-of-towners with the watchdog group will train 20 Appalachian Ohio and West Virginia residents how to measure levels of air contamination in their communities.
There are other jobs — such as tracking pollution logs — that others can pick up to support the organization.
Anyone interested in getting involved by keeping pollution logs or assembling a Bucket Brigade Team are asked to contact Athens County Fracking Action Network through its website, http://www.acfan.org/.
ld311710@ohiou.edu
