Lessons Learned on the Road to Environmental Cleanup

Click here or below to Access the modules after reading the instructions below

When either an individual or group suspects an environmental exposure in their community, they may not know where to begin to investigate and fix the problem. Who is responsible? What are the best strategies to remediate the situation? And what should residents do and not do? With funding from NIEHS, our Centers developed three educational modules to guide community members through what can be a daunting process. Drawing from our experiences working with communities, regulatory agencies, industry and government officials, we have told the stories of three environmental cleanups and assembled lessons learned and strategies that communities and others can use to navigate this difficult process. The videos are accompanied by interactive educational components that help the viewer gain insight into the process.

We tell the story of three contaminated sites: Ambler, PA, with asbestos contamination from manufacturing, Wilmington, MA, with a chemical spill, and Fernald, OH, with contamination from uranium refinery. The activities at each site led to significant contaminant exposure to community members. The first module of this educational package provides some background information about the three sites.

It takes about 3 hours to view all three modules. They are designed so that a community group might view one module including the interactive portions at each of three meetings and then discuss. To see the menu, click on the 3 horizontal bars to the left of the title at the top of your screen (upper left-hand corner). The interactive components, such as Case Scenario 1, have no sound.

To Access the modules,

• To begin the first module, click on the triangle in the circle.
• Click on NEXT in the lower right-hand corner to advance through the pages.
• At the Menu page, Click on Module 1, and then click on NEXT to advance through the pages.
• To exit from the modules if you are in full-screen mode, just hover over the two bars in the lower left and then right-click. A small white window will come up.  Click on exit full screen at the top of the window. You can then close the modules by clicking on the x in the very upper right-hand corner.
• Don’t forget to view the acknowledgments and credits from the CREDITS button on the Menu frame.
  

Three Centers contributed to this project

• University of Cincinnati, Center for Environmental Genetics, led by Susan Pinney, Center Director (Lead)
• University of Pennsylvania, Center for Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, led by Marilyn Howarth, CEC Director
• MIT Superfund Research Program Center, led by Kathleen Vandiver, CEC Director

For inquiries or comments about these modules, contact Dr. Susan Pinney at susan.pinney@uc.edu