Grantee Research Project Results
2023 Progress Report: Advancing Community Resilience to Cumulative Climate Impacts in the Mystic River Watershed (ACRES)
EPA Grant Number: R840480Title: Advancing Community Resilience to Cumulative Climate Impacts in the Mystic River Watershed (ACRES)
Investigators: Levy, Jonathan , Scammell, Madeleine Kangsen , Lane, Kevin J , Nori-Sarma, Amrutasri A , Cesare, Nina , Fabian, M. Patricia , Milando, Chad , Spangler, Keith , Wormser, Julie , Khemani, Muskaan , Popp, Zach , Echevarria-Ramos, Mariangelí
Institution: Boston University , Mystic River Watershed Association
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: November 1, 2022 through October 31, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: November 1, 2022 through October 31,2023
Project Amount: $1,349,151
RFA: Cumulative Health Impacts at the Intersection of Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Vulnerable Populations/Lifestages: Community-Based Research for Solutions (2021) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health , Environmental Justice
Objective:
(1) Community dialogues to identify concerns around climate and chemical exposures within the Mystic River Watershed, as well as generating solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate exposures and chemical stressors in the region, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations.
(2) Development of Mystic River watershed-wide hazardscape mapping tools at high spatial and temporal resolutions, to enable communities to plan and prepare for ongoing climate and chemical exposures.
(3) Epidemiologic analyses of the health outcomes associated with extreme weather and chemical exposures in the region, as well as health risk assessments / benefits analysis of solutions implemented to mitigate / adapt to these exposures.
Progress Summary:
Within our community engagement activities, we conducted a systematic review of existing municipal reports related to climate, chemicals, and health to understand what were identified as community concerns without adding to community research fatigue. We also formed and kicked off a steering committee comprised of local experts from different regions of the watershed, and we attended multiple community events. Outward-facing products included a data dashboard displaying flooding, TRI sites, brownfields, Superfund sites, and heat exposure overlaid on one another in the Mystic Watershed, and a website to share the activities of the ACRES project, including a team, data, and maps section (https://www.acresmysticriver.org/). The website is also a mechanism to facilitate bi-directional communication between the steering committee and the team.
In addition, we assembled all the high-resolution geospatial data listed in the grant application, intended for both epidemiological analyses and examination of fine-resolution exposure patterns. We also constructed a high-resolution synthetic population dataset, which required methodological refinements beyond previous applications, and we obtained access to Medicaid data across the US as a key component of forthcoming epidemiological analyses.
Thus far, the outcomes demonstrate that key sectors, e.g. community health centers and chemical industries, need to be engaged in building climate resilience to holistically address cumulative chemical and climate impacts. General results have indicated that priority populations highlighted through other initiatives/projects are also burdened by cumulative chemical and climate impacts.
Future Activities:
In spring 2024, we will expand our community engagement with focus groups within the community, starting with individuals who work at community health centers given feedback from our steering committee. Steps prior to that task will include identification of key individuals and drafting an interview script. We will center many engagement activities in Summer 2024, aligning with the outdoor engagement activities conducted by MyRWA, allowing us to gain final feedback on all elements of our future project deliverables.
In parallel, we will continue to process various climate and chemical exposure data at multiple spatial resolutions to align with epidemiological analyses, exposure disparities analyses, health benefits analyses, and any additional community needs. This will include iterative refinement based on community feedback and will eventually inform the development of interactive maps displaying high-risk areas.
Finally, we will start conducting preliminary epidemiological analyses using Medicaid data, including the high-resolution chemical and climate exposure data and ED visits and other county-level outcomes available in the Medicaid dataset. We will in parallel complete construction of a building parcel-level synthetic population for the Mystic River Watershed Area, providing the foundation for all cumulative health impact assessments and examination of exposure disparities. We aim by the end of Year 2 to have the synthetic population constructed and aligned with the structure of the preliminary epidemiological analyses
We plan for multiple scientific manuscripts to be completed and submitted during Year 2, including one characterizing community concerns based on a systematic review of municipal reports, one presenting the novel methods for synthetic population creation at the parcel level, and one presenting blackout data with an environmental justice lens. Additional manuscripts and community-centered products are under development and are expected to be worked on in Year 2.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 1 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
air, risk assessment, elderly, ethnic groups, cumulative effects, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, community-based, engineering, social science, epidemiology, modeling, geographic information systems, Northeast, EPA Region 1Relevant Websites:
Advancing Community Resilience to Cumulative Climate Impacts in the Mystic River Watershed Exit
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.