Fundraising for Next FLIR Video Camera Rental at the End of June 2014

Due to the success of our first week of monitoring with the FLIR video camera, we're setting up another rental at the end of June 2014.  We're coordinating with volunteers across Washington and Oregon.  We're an all volunteer organization, so 100% of your donation will be used for scientific monitoring or community organizing related expenses. 

Our current goal is $4000 which will cover the cost of the camera rental for one week.  We are accepting donations at our weekly meetings (every Thursday, 6-7pm at the Blind Onion 2900 E Mill Plain Blvd.), at tabling events (Saturdays at the Vancouver Farmers Market), and through FundRazr (see donate button on upper left side of this page).  We're also selling t-shirts for $20 each.

Thank you so much for your support!

VAN desperately needs summa canisters for air monitoring! Can you help?

VAN has made a lot of headway in the last month and half but we still need your help.  The FLIR camera that we are preparing to use is a qualitative tool.  It can show VOC’s and hydrocarbon fumes being emitted from the trains, but it can’t give us any information about the amounts.  We hope to add a few summa air monitoring canisters in order to determine the levels of VOC’s.  Our plan is to use the camera to find the most significant emissions being released then, using the summa canister, obtain an air sample from that area.


Summa Canister air monitoring costs $250 - $350 per sample.




 Summa canisters are small airtight metal containers. The summa canister is sent to the field under vacuum and certified leak-free. The canister fills with air at a fixed flow rate over a preset period of time with use of a flow controller.  After the canister is filled, it is sent to an analytical laboratory under the appropriate chain-of-custody protocol and analyzed. Very low detection limits, in the sub­parts per billion volume (ppbv) range are possible.

We’ll also need volunteers to help with the monitoring. If you’re interested, please get in touch with us at vancouveractionnetwork@gmail.com or 503-765-7176.

Anonymous donor to match first $1,000 VAN raises! Help us reach our goal! *UPDATED*

Thank you so much for your donations! Thanks to you we've reached our first milestone, the rental of the FLIR GasFindIR 320. We will be posting video and images next week. Vancouver Action Network is proud to announce that an anonymous donor has offered to match VAN's donations, dollar for dollar, up to $1,000 in order to help us achieve our $2,000 scientific monitoring goal.  We will use these funds to rent a FLIR GasfindIR hydrocarbon viewing video camera and to have one Bucket Brigade air monitor sample tested.  These donations will allow VAN to start the world's first citizen monitoring effort of dangerous hydrocarbon emissions from the Bakken oil trains since the US government refuses to conduct monitoring. These trains are already coming through our town.  Please help us monitor these emissions, bust the polluting companies, and protect all railside communities from disaster.  With your help we will change this fight from a defensive one to an offensive one and cost the oil and rail companies billions of dollars.
 

Our strategy and goals are clear. Science, existing regulation, and public opinion are on our side.  This is a remarkable opportunity to have a HUGE impact on an entire industry with a small sum of money.  Your donation will help protect railside communities across North America.  Please support our ground breaking monitoring efforts by making a donation today.

Thanks to the VAN supporters who have already made donations!  VAN is an all volunteer organization so 100% of your donation goes towards monitoring efforts.  There are several ways to contribute to our organization.  We will be tabling in Vancouver on Saturdays outside the NE entrance to the Farmers Market at 8th and Esther from 9am - 3pm and Sundays at 152 SE Columbia Way on the east side of the Riverwalk parking lot from 1pm - 6pm.  We hold weekly meetings at the Blind Onion, 2900 E Mill Plain Blvd in Vancouver.  Donations will be accepted at all these events.  We also have an indiegogo campaign which can be found here.

You can also contact us via email at vancouveractionnetwork@gmail.com, by phone at 503-765-7176, and on Facebook at Vancouver Action Network.

Thank you in advance for your donation.

Matt Landon with Vancouver Action Network

VAN begins use of Public Lab light spectrometer- DATA and fundraising plea

Today marks the beginning of VAN's 3 prong oil train air monitoring program. (see 3-17-14 post below for complete monitoring details)  Thanks to Portland Mike for the gracious temporary loan of a Public Lab desktop light spectrometer. http://store.publiclab.org/products/desktop-spectrometry-kit

VAN volunteers may be able to take pictures of gases coming from Bakken crude oil trains and other unhealthy emissions similar to this project - http://www.publiclab.org/wiki/refinery-watching

VAN will be able to monitor the oil trains much more effectively with the FLIR Gasfindir hydrocarbon viewing video camera.  Will you help us reach our fundraising goal of $1,500 for a 5 day rental of this camera?  VAN is currently only able to take donations at our weekly meetings but we are searching for a 501c3 non-profit to act as our fiscal sponsor.  If you know a supportive 501c3 non profit let us know and please make a donation to this worthy project.   

SPECIAL NOTE-- If you live in the apartments facing the railroad along SE Columbia Way in Vancouver, WA and have an internet connection we would love to work with you to document the crude oil train emissions.  Please contact us with the info listed at the top right hand side of this blog.   

We are still calibrating the spectrometer and hope to have some additional data to share by 3-24-14 but till then the below pics show our calibration process.

UPDATE-- VAN volunteers need help from the residents of Vancouver.  If you see an oil train with all black oil cars stopped during a sunny day on Hwy 14 please call (503) 765- 7176 so we can respond with the light spectrometer. VAN scientists were unable to capture additional data this week with the light spectrometer but we are continuing to experiment with this equipment. 

DATA


http://spectralworkbench.org/analyze/spectrum/23824


You have to hold it really close to the light bulb to calibrate. 

This is where the magic happens!  It is the "gum stick" video camera.