U of T Indigenous-led lab creates new app for reporting pollution in Chemical Valley – Toronto Star

Oct. 19, 2019

Vanessa and Beze Gray run an annual “Toxic Tour” of the siblings’ childhood home — Aamjiwnaang First Nation.

The 2,500 acres of ancestral land is wedged on three sides by sprawling petroleum and chemical companies that, for generations, have discharged pollutants into Canada’s Chemical Valley. On Saturday, the Grays guided more than 200 people around the Indigenous territory near Sarnia as part of their environmental activism to show what Vanessa describes as the “scary reality for people living so close to these industries.”

The Grays also announced a new tool to aid their cause: the Pollution Reporter app.

Developed by an Indigenous-led lab at the University of Toronto — the Technoscience Research Unit, in collaboration with researcher Vanessa Gray — the free app allows users to easily fill out pollution reports in real time and send the information by email to the provincial environment ministry. Users can report all pollution incidents, not just air emissions.

Read More: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2019/10/19/u-of-t-indigenous-led-lab-creates-new-app-for-reporting-air-pollution-in-chemical-valley.html