RoseyFields conducted a comprehensive environmental exposure and health risk assessment evaluating the cumulative impact of toxic air pollutant emissions from a dense network of major industrial and infrastructure operations. We evaluated emissions originating from complex, large-scale sources, including a major petroleum refinery, a commercial aviation hub, natural gas power generation plants, and municipal wastewater treatment and gas storage facilities. Our team specifically focused on assessing long-term community exposure to hazardous air pollutants and harmful criteria air pollutants. The chemicals of concern evaluated in this assessment included sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter, heavy metals, and a complex mixture of neurotoxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, formaldehyde, hexane, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes (BTEX), and tetrachloroethylene (PCE).
To accurately quantify ambient air concentrations and trace contaminant migration, our team performed rigorous air dispersion modeling utilizing the U.S. EPA-approved AERMOD software system. We integrated decades of facility-reported point and fugitive emissions data, high-resolution meteorological data, and terrain processing to model the localized dispersion of chemical plumes migrating off-site. In addition to our atmospheric transport analysis, RoseyFields conducted background level quantification and evaluated historical ambient air monitoring data to validate the modeled concentrations. By mathematically deriving secondary pollutant concentrations from primary combustion and fugitive leak proxies, we successfully reconstructed historical exposure pathways and established a consistent pattern of toxic plumes trespassing onto surrounding properties.
Building upon the environmental modeling, RoseyFields characterized the affected population and quantified the potential health hazards posed by these persistent emissions. We identified the potential exposure class by analyzing long-term residential histories within the established dispersion zones, meticulously comparing the localized pollutant spikes against typical regional background concentrations. Finally, our team performed a comprehensive human health risk assessment by integrating the modeled exposure metrics with peer-reviewed epidemiological evidence. This holistic assessment approach enabled us to evaluate how cumulative, multi-source exposure to elevated industrial emissions compounded health risks, ultimately demonstrating a significantly heightened risk for severe neurodegenerative health outcomes within the exposed community.
