LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The EPA awarded $1 million to Louisville's Air Pollution Control District for the "Ambient Air Toxics and Health Action for the Rubbertown Area" project.
Previously, a similar study led to the 2005 STAR program, which reduced chemical pollution in Rubbertown by about 80%.
"That is a miracle," Arnita Gadson, with West Jefferson Community Task Force, said. "But the most important thing is, this was inspired by the community."
That community, the West Jefferson County Community Task Force, pushed for a study in the 90s eventually influencing STAR. They also pushed for the new EPA-funded study, which compares those original numbers to updated counts and expands APCD's testing capacity to wastewater.
"With that, we'll be able to determine policy changes that may or not be necessary with our program," Rachael Hamilton, director, said.
Mayor Craig Greenberg shared the stage for the grant announcement on Wednesday, thanking Congressman Morgan McGarvey and President Biden for securing the federal funds.
"The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act are providing us with once-in-a-generation opportunities that are supporting environmental work in cities like Louisville and continue to help us invest in areas of our community that for too long have seen too much disinvestment," he said.
Despite the EPA measuring massive declines in chemicals - like arsenic, chloroform and formaldehyde - West End cancer death rates are double that of the East End. That's according to the Louisville Department of Public Health.
Addressing those disparities is why the money comes to Louisville.
"To make sure that those funds go to communities that have been underserved and disadvantaged in the past and to make sure that they are addressing issues that change the futures of those communities," Jeaneanne Gettle, an EPA regional adminstrator, said.
The study also provides information to health care providers for diagnosing and treating patients impacted by industrial chemicals.
Furthermore, the EPA awarded a half-million-dollars to the Parks Alliance of Louisville for Alberta Jones Park. It's for a park community council, a superintendent working for the council, and an equity study figuring out the best use for the area.
One idea came from a nearby chef and member of that council, Eneitra Beattie.
"We're gonna put in fresh food in that dirt over there," she said. "That urban ag space, it's gonna be amazing."
UofL will conduct a study too, determining the green space's impact on health in the California neighborhood.
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