Business leaders support local air pollution monitoring
Smoke billows out of the Valero refinery near Downtown Memphis. The bulk of polluting industries are in South Memphis and Southwest Memphis. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
The Shelby County Health Department is in danger of losing its authority to monitor local air pollution as the state pressures the program to address understaffing, numerous audit findings and a permit backlog.
Topics
Memphis Community Against Pollution Justin Pearson Shelby County Health Deparatment Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
Subscribers to The Daily Memphian help fund our not-for-profit newsroom of nearly 40 local journalists plus more than 20 freelancers, all of whom work around the clock to cover the issues impacting our community. Subscriptions - and donations - also help fund our community access programs which provide free access to K-12 schools, community organizations, and more. Thank you for making our work possible.
Keely Brewer
Keely Brewer is a Report for America corps member covering environmental impacts on communities of color in Memphis. She is working in partnership with the Ag & Water Desk, a sustainable reporting network aimed at telling water and agriculture stories across the Mississippi River Basin.
Ian Round
Ian Round is The Daily Memphian’s state government reporter based in Nashville. He came to Tennessee from Maryland, where he reported on local politics for Baltimore Brew. He earned a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland in December 2019.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.