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UD students win contest with video about tainted Behr plant

Watch the students' 8-minute winning video At youtube.com

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By Dave Larsen, Staff Writer Updated 10:56 PM Thursday, March 4, 2010

COLUMBUS — A video by a group of University of Dayton students about contamination from the Behr Dayton Thermal Products plant won first place Thursday, March 4, at the Environmental Justice Short Video Contest.

UD student Jessie Hanley walked the red carpet at the Vern Riffe Center in Columbus and accepted certificates on behalf of herself and four fellow students.

“The award was great, but we’re more concerned with making something happen,” said Hanley, 19, an electronic media major from Columbus.

Hanley produced “Behr Dayton Thermal Systems VOC Plume,” an eight-minute video about the contaminated industrial site, with fellow UD sophomores Paul Azzi, Jennifer Biette, McLean Johnson and Kiersten Manifold.

Click to watch the video on YouTube

In 2003, groundwater beneath the Behr facility, 1600 Webster St., was found to be contaminated with trichloroethylene, or TCE, a solvent linked to health problems.

By 2006, a contaminated groundwater plume was determined to be moving south-southwest into the nearby neighborhood.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency testing determined that more than 200 residential and commercial structures in the area required a mitigation system to keep indoor air clean.

The contest was sponsored by Ohioans for Health, Environment and Justice, a statewide environmental alliance, and the Ohio Student Environmental Coalition.

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