From surveillance to intervention to policy change: Modeling hazardous air pollutants to protect Wisconsin's health

This presentation will detail a joint effort by state health and environmental agencies that led to a voluntary reduction in solvent emissions from an industrial facility. The intervention was precipitated by public inquiry regarding elevated air toxics being released based on Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data. This led to the state environmental agency to examine findings from their pilot implementation of the U.S. EPA Regional Air Impact Modeling Initiative (RAIMI) model that indicated that emissions of trichloroethylene (TCE) were elevated in a community in Walworth County, Wisconsin. Findings from the model were subsequently confirmed by pollutant monitoring around a facility that used TCE. At the request of the WI Department of Natural Resources, the WI Department of Health and Family Services prepared a consultation summarizing community TCE exposure risks and recommending that the industrial facility emitting TCE reduce their emissions of TCE. After being presented with modeling, monitoring and consultation results, the facility owner - who was in compliance with all applicable permit requirements - agreed to change the manufacturing process in the plant to eliminate TCE emissions. This intervention resulted in reduced community TCE exposure, and serves as a model for how the use of air pollutant modeling to identify high-risk communities can translate into reduced exposure to air toxics. This intervention also illustrates how having a pro-active approach to addressing community environmental health concerns can have positive impacts on reducing population risks from exposure to hazardous pollutants.