The Bucket is the instrument that can be applied by communities to collect air samples, when they are suspicious of local authorities, industry or government’s air quality results. This method of collection has been tested over a year period by the EPA (Environmental Protection Authority, USA) and certified for its accuracy of collecting and identifying 100 different air borne chemicals. The design of the bucket has been adapted from the EPA’s testing equipment to make it affordable and simplistic enough for communities to use, whilst the Lab for processing the samples has been well researched for its expertise and fairness by the creator of the Bucket Sampling Technique, Mr Denny Larson of Global Community Monitor.

The Bucket Brigade are the community members that engage in monitoring the air of the industry under suspicion so that the livelihoods of the people surrounding the industry can be improved, and hence the mitigation of environmental impacts,such as air pollution, implemented and enforced.

In Conjunction with the bucket, locals (i.e bucket brigade) can also survey for health, or collect local records, and further compare and contrast health records against other communities or districts. To strengthen evidence of toxic pollution by industry the bucket brigade can engage in the collection of water and soil samples to send to a lab for assessment also. Furthermore, the bucket brigade should be involved in working with their community to complete log books everyday of all the sensory impacts that they feel, smell and see from the polluting industry. This information can be used in juxtaposition with their air quality results and any other environmental sampling they can test for.

Mr Denny Larson from Global Community Monitor (GCM), USA, who created the bucket brigade in 1995 coordinated the recent training in Map Ta Phut, Rayong Province with the support of Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Campaign Alternative Industry Network (CAIN). In attendance during the week of July 26th- July 30th, 2004 were community members such as past students of a school in the Ma Ta Phut Industrial Estate, Rayong, and active opponents of the Mae Moh Lignite mine, Lampang Province. Also, experts on air quality, government officials, health professionals, researchers and community members from Ubon Ratchatani (Potash mining issue- not yet cleared to start) attended for the week to learn the empowering bucket brigade techniques.

The workshop was mostly presented by Denny, however local support and expert knowledge was shared from Mr Saphavit Peimpongsarn, from the Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment, Inspections Unit; Penchon Tang, Coordinator of CAIN and expert on the issues at Ma Ta Phut Industrial Estate and Arpa Wangkieat, Professor and Air Quality Expert, Rangsit University. The first two days covered air pollution theory, examples of communities implementing the bucket brigade technique worldwide, and the simple techniques of how to collect air samples by using the bucket. The following three days were spent on site at Ma Ta Phut practice sampling and real time sampling for air samples, working with the media and discussing the alliance of a Thailand Bucket Brigade for the coming 6 months in particular view of the Ma Ta Phut and Mae Moh issues. The final morning was used to consolidate plans for the Thailand Bucket Brigade and discuss how the technique will be used to support these communities of Mae Moh with its large and polluting lignite mine operations, and Ma Ta Phut with its 59 various factories on the Industrial Estate, including large petrochemical plant operations, toxic waste disposals and large areas of and reclamation.

The Ma Ta Phut bucket brigade team has already secured funding from Greenpeace SEA's Toxics Campaign to conduct monthly tests on the air until December, 2004. Furthermore, continued support and professional research from CAIN will enable the Ma Ta Phut Bucket Brigade to create a strong case for industries to answer by December. In addition, a good opportunity presented itself for the community members of Mae Moh to become active again in their struggle against EGAT’s pollution monitoring standards, concerning air quality and health. A community leader, P.Meriwan, can return home with the bucket brigade tools and with the support of other community members begin collecting air samples in foresight of an international conference on coal and energy to be held on sight in Lampang, in January 2005. A time plan and strategic map was created by the Mae Moh focus group to secure support, funding and community awareness to begin air quality monitoring almost immediately in readiness for presenting results at the International Convention next year.

GCM, CAIN and Greenpeace have given Thai people a great opportunity in relation to mitigating industrial air pollution and bringing Thailand’s air standards to acceptable levels in consideration of community health and well-being. The bucket brigade has the ability to pressure the government of Thailand and investing as well as local industries to consider their technologies, implementation and monitoring systems and further bring these in line with international standards. Thailand should pride itself on not being an easy target for known double standard industries.

Further information on Denny Larson and the history of his innovative community air pollution monitoring technique, and other global bucket brigade projects in action, can be viewed on the GCM website at www.gcmonitor.org. Thai people can work together to ensure for healthy communities and environments. In the mind of Denny Larson the bucket is merely one tool or “one piece of the cake” that we can use towards striving for ecologically sustainable development and healthy and happier communities. Indeed it is a very important piece of the cake as in the past air quality monitoring presented one of the greatest technically challenging techniques for a community member to engage. However, following the Bucket Brigade Workshop, this challenge has been overcome, and the justice for clean air now lies in the Bucket and the hands of Thailand’s Bucket Brigade.

Summary by Georgi Marshall, Tuesday August 3, 2004