The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is awarding grants to monitor air quality in the Ohio and Kanawha valleys.
The FracTracker Alliance will get nearly $500,000 from the EPA to monitor air quality in Brooke, Hancock and Marshall counties.
In part, the grant will help measure emissions from hydraulic fracturing, the unconventional technique used to drill for oil and natural gas known as fracking.
Appalachian Voices will receive more than $100,000 to measure particulate matter in Raleigh and McDowell counties, as well as the city of Institute.
The funding for the grants was made available through the Inflation Reduction Act, which Congress passed over the summer.
They’re part of the Biden administration’s effort to direct federal dollars to communities with disproportionately high health and environmental impacts.