.png)
WELCOME TO
CEAL Program
Collaboration between the Lower Richland Community and EJ Strong started in November 2022, identifying flooding as a significant environmental concern in the area.
EJ Strong Partners with Lower Richland Students to Collect Water Samples
DHEC’s Environmental Justice Strong program, or EJ Strong, in collaboration with the University of South Carolina’s South Carolina Section of the American Water Works Association (SCAWWA) and Water Environment Association of South Carolina (WEASC) Carolina Water Club Student Chapter, recently initiated a water monitoring endeavor in partnership with students from Lower Richland High School as part of the Lower Richland’s Citizens Earning and Learning Initiative.
Collaboration between the Lower Richland Community and EJ Strong started in November 2022, identifying flooding as a significant environmental concern in the area. In response to these flooding and water quality challenges, Beata Dewitt, La’Nya Green and Robert Reese of EJ Strong have taken the lead in establishing a Community Water Monitoring Group, including participation from students at Lower Richland High School.
On Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, students collected water samples along the Cedar Creek of Congaree National Park using DHEC’s Adopt-a-Stream Freshwater Monitoring Kits. The Carolina Water Club facilitated the water sampling event, leveraging their certification as volunteers of the Adopt-a-Stream Program. Members of the Water Club volunteered to instruct and assist students in conducting habitat assessments and tests for water temperature, pH levels, and dissolved oxygen.
This event marks the beginning of several student-led sampling sessions planned for this spring semester.
Objectives C.E.A.L Intiative
Prepare and educate students and residents about potential flooding, chemical release, and wildfire disasters, preparedness, and resiliency
Enhance knowledge, network, and experiential learning opportunities about careers in Water / Sewer / Wastewater Management pathways.
Develop water and air monitoring protocol and database to establish baseline, routine, and deviant recordings in the Lower Richland community,
Build capacity in the Lower Richland community to address environmental justice concerns among youth and adult residents,
Ultimately, the C.E.A.L. Science Initiative will empower the communities within the lower Richland County of South Carolina (East Columbia, Hopkins, Eastover, and Gadsden) to build capacity to better prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and recover from three types of natural disasters – flooding, chemical releases, and wildfires. Tools will be developed to provide residents from these communities with disaster preparedness actions and tasks that they can implement in their communities.
The C.E.A.L (Citizens Earning and Learning) Science Initiative will be implemented to emphasize the importance of the Lower Richland Environmental Justice (EJ) communities being empowered to prepare and respond to hazards, have a stake in risk reduction measures, and link the communities’ efforts to county, state, and national government disaster resources (organizations, financial, and human capital). This grant will focus on mitigating flooding, chemical releases, and wildfire hazards specific to the Lower Richland community. Further, this grant addresses community capacity building using environmental and STEM educational opportunities, workforce
develop