The City’s Air Pollution Control awards celebrates clean air education in Huntsville schools
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Celebrating education efforts about the importance of clean air, the City of Huntsville’s Air Pollution Control (APC) Board presented its annual Achievement Awards.
Mayor Tommy Battle, City Director of Natural Resources Darlene Elliott and the APC board recognized Earthscope and the Solid Waste Disposal Authority (SWDA) of the City of Huntsville at a City Hall ceremony, two entities that work hand-in-hand to connect with students in Huntsville City Schools.
“This is a program that has reached generations of Huntsville students, and I am proud that we are able to take a moment and applaud the intentionality to share about the value of clean air,” Mayor Battle said. “These programs provide hands-on opportunities for students and develop habits that students can apply to their everyday lives.”
Category 3 – Air Quality Education Award Winners
Earthscope: Serving all 26 K-6 schools in the Huntsville City Schools’ Environmental Education Department, Earthscope provides field-based environmental science, history and nature programs to students. Among the activities coordinated by Earthscope are field trips to the Solid Waste Disposal Authority of the City of Huntsville’s (SWDA’s) Waste-to-Energy facility (“trash plant”) and landfill, a water treatment plant, the Flint River and Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. Information on emission control systems at the trash plant and landfill as well as energy and resource conservation, proper waste management and recycling, water quality protection, and the interrelationships between air quality protection and surface water quality is provided to the students. Earthscope has been providing these educational programs for many years now but has not previously nominated their work for recognition by the Board.
Solid Waste Disposal Authority: SWDA is a public nonprofit corporation that provides integrated solid waste management and disposal services for Huntsville and Madison County, including operating a 690 ton/day Waste-to-Energy facility (“trash plant”), a sanitary municipal solid waste landfill, and recycling and household hazardous waste collection facility and programs. SWDA is actively engaged in public education and partners with Earthscope, hosting the field trip to the Waste-to-Energy Plant (“The Trash Trip”) and landfill, which includes discussions of emission controls, energy and resource conservation and proper waste management and recycling, as well as how proper solid waste management serves to protect ambient air quality. They also provide tours for other groups, tailoring their presentations to the age and technical expertise of the target audience. In addition to partnering with Earthscope in “The Trash Trip” field trip, SWDA provides an annual grant to Earthscope to support their ongoing environmental education efforts. SWDA has been providing these educational opportunities and funding for many years now but has not previously nominated their work for recognition by the Board. The Board is pleased to provide this long-overdue recognition of SWDA’s Air Quality Education efforts.
“The City of Huntsville and the APC board are pleased to provide this long-overdue recognition for these air quality education efforts,” Elliott said. “Monitoring air quality is a critical mission for the Department of Natural Resources and we are eager to recognize our partners in this effort across Huntsville. Nominations will open soon for the 2027 awards, and we look forward to hearing from the Huntsville community.”