Environment & Health

View from downtown looking toward the North Shore, showing the difference between a clean air day (image on the left) and a bad air day (image on the right). You can easily see the pollution on the horizon.

Clean air day vs. a dirty air day

At a Glance

A livable region requires clean air and drinking water, toxic-free environments, renewable energy, green infrastructure and climate-friendly policies that benefit all persons.

Enhancing and protecting natural resources, environmental systems and public health is critical to advancing a clean economy, which is vital to our region’s well-being, competitiveness and character.

Vulnerable populations, individuals susceptible to developmental health threats and disease, and those experiencing environmental injustice deserve protection from disproportionate harm.

Overview

The Environment & Health Program focuses on protecting and enhancing the region’s environmental systems and public health, advancing a clean economy, reducing disparities and promoting equitable outcomes. Central tenets of action and belief include relying on fact-based scientific knowledge, strong and sustaining advocacy networks, and solution-focused outcomes while prioritizing justice and equity as well as community engagement, participation and leadership.

Highlighted Grantee

Photo courtesy of New Voices Pittsburgh

New Voices Pittsburgh

New Voices Pittsburgh is a grassroots human rights organization dedicated to achieving the complete health and well-being of black women and girls, their families and communities. New Voices engages black women and girls in community organizing for lasting social change, including the pursuit of environmental justice in the Pittsburgh region.

Learn more about New Voices Pittsburgh

Our grants tell the story of what we care about - people and the places where they live.

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Using Low-Cost Technology to Democratize Data and Protect Public Health: Case Studies in Pittsburgh

In a recent blog post on the national Foundation Center’s GrantCraft website, Heinz Endowments Environment & Health Program Director Philip Johnson describes how the foundation has responded to Pittsburgh’s environmental challenges by supporting the development of low-cost technologies that residents, educators, advocacy groups and policymakers can use to learn about surrounding conditions. Having environment data that is relevant, engaging and available to all helps Pittsburgh in becoming a more equitable, just and sustainable city.

Program Staff

Related Strategic Areas

Creativity Learning Sustainability

The Endowments’ work in Creativity supports and celebrates the importance of creativity in all aspects of the region’s success — through its artists and cultural organizations; the quality of life in its neighborhoods; the excellence of its public realm; and the voices of its citizens as active participants in cultural life.

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The Heinz Endowments’ focus on family and child well-being, holistic education and workforce readiness helps to build a community where curiosity, collaboration and innovation are encouraged and everyone has the opportunity to learn and achieve.

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As part of its efforts to pursue a just and sustainable Pittsburgh, The Heinz Endowments is advancing an equitable, clean economy that protects public health and the environment, and benefits all citizens of Pittsburgh.

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Related News and Media

Penn State: Shale Gas Threat To Forests Can Be Eased By Consolidating Infrastructure PA Environment Digest, May 1, 2017

Fragmentation of ecologically important core forests within the northern Appalachians — driven by pipeline and access road construction — is the major threat posed by shale-gas development, according to researchers, who recommend a change in

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Pittsburgh groups work to rid schools and child care centers of lead, radon Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 28, 2017

Two nonprofits are launching a program to help Pittsburgh-area schools and child care centers get rid of lead and radon hazards.

1,000 Hours a Year initiative will help local schools test for lead and radon NextPittsburgh, April 27, 2017

Women for a Healthy Environment (WHE) and the Green Building Alliance (GBA) announced at a joint press conference Thursday a new initiative, 1,000 Hours a Year, that will provide funding to local schools and early

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Pittsburgh environmental groups launch initiative to help schools and child-care facilities address lead and radon Pittsburgh City Paper, April 27, 2017

Children spend an estimated 1,000 hours every year in schools, early-education centers and after-school programs. While parents can work to protect their children from environmental hazards like lead and radon at home, they have little

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This new initiative will help Pittsburgh-area schools and pre-schools test for lead and radon PublicSource, April 27, 2017

Superintendent Patrick Graczyk didn’t sleep for 48 hours after he had received his school district's lead testing results.

Pittsburgh could spend $900K to restructure PWSA Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, April 25, 2017

Pittsburgh has chosen a Maryland-based infrastructure consulting firm to manage a possible restructuring of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority.

What it was like “Living Downwind” of Shenango Coke Works NextPittsburgh, April 20, 2017

In 2015, communities near Neville Island rejoiced when it was announced that the Shenango Coke Works, a plant blamed for pumping out noxious pollution, would shut down. In the months since it officially closed, organizations

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Shale gas threat to forests can be eased by consolidating infrastructure Penn State, April 19, 2017

Fragmentation of ecologically important core forests within the northern Appalachians -- driven by pipeline and access road construction -- is the major threat posed by shale-gas development, according to researchers, who recommend a change in

...

Report Finds Fracking Companies Often Get Slap-On-The-Wrist Fines Allegheny Front, March 28, 2017

According to a new report from the group PennEnvironment, only 17 percent of environmental or health violations by fracking companies in Pennsylvania resulted in fines. And when companies did get fined, the penalties were relatively

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