The Olin Chemical Superfund Site Case Study
Contributors
Summary
The Olin Chemical Superfund Site case study module consists of four lesson units and a classroom follow-up activity, designed to introduce students to the U.S. EPA’s Superfund Program and the history of the chemical industry. It also delves into the toxicology of chemicals released into the environment, while helping students explore green chemistry innovations that aim to eliminate the use of certain hazardous chemicals. The Olin Chemical Superfund Site case study is meant to complement and expand on core toxicology concepts found in the Toxicology for Chemists Curriculum by Beyond Benign. The case study is ideal for introductory-level college chemistry courses.
The case study units include lecture slides, specific learning outcomes, Course alignment and prerequisites, a detailed lesson plan and a list of additional resources. Additionally, the case study provides assessment and review questions for in-class discussions, homework, and exams.
This resource also guides educators and students in developing case studies based on Superfund sites in their own regions, adding local relevance and connecting students with their communities.
The module was authored by Prof. Nesta Bortey-Sam, Prof. Emeritus. Doug Raynie, and Dr. Monica Nyansa, with peer reviews by Prof. Jesse Morin, Prof. Dalila Kovacs, Dr. Kathleen Vandiver, and MIT Superfund Research Program (SRP) trainees Weixi Kang, Barathkumar Baskaran, and Haosheng Feng.
This resource was made possible with support to Beyond Benign from the NIH-NIEHS Superfund Research Program Grant P42-ES027707 (MIT Superfund Research Program). Any opinions, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the authors(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of Beyond Benign and MIT Superfund Research Program.
The case study units include lecture slides, specific learning outcomes, Course alignment and prerequisites, a detailed lesson plan and a list of additional resources. Additionally, the case study provides assessment and review questions for in-class discussions, homework, and exams.
This resource also guides educators and students in developing case studies based on Superfund sites in their own regions, adding local relevance and connecting students with their communities.
The module was authored by Prof. Nesta Bortey-Sam, Prof. Emeritus. Doug Raynie, and Dr. Monica Nyansa, with peer reviews by Prof. Jesse Morin, Prof. Dalila Kovacs, Dr. Kathleen Vandiver, and MIT Superfund Research Program (SRP) trainees Weixi Kang, Barathkumar Baskaran, and Haosheng Feng.
This resource was made possible with support to Beyond Benign from the NIH-NIEHS Superfund Research Program Grant P42-ES027707 (MIT Superfund Research Program). Any opinions, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the authors(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of Beyond Benign and MIT Superfund Research Program.
Safety Precautions, Hazards, and Risk Assessment
N/A
Teacher Recommendations or Piloting Data (if available)
Pilot 1: Jesse Morin, Senior Lecturer, Chemistry, Brown University
The case study was piloted in a course titled Reimagining Chemistry and explores the intersection of chemistry and the world around it. Students are juniors and seniors who have at least taken through organic chemistry. It had 24 students, and most students were chemistry, biochemistry, chemical physics, or other STEM majors. More than half of the class was pre-health.
The case study module was so easy to use and had a great level of detail. It had content that I wouldn't have known myself, and also was easy to modify for my course's needs. It looked great, and I will definitely use it again next year. The case study content met all my expectations and needs. For using the case study in my class, I had to condense some of the slides, because I had already talked about CERCLA and what Superfund sites are, but that isn't really an area for improvement. It was easy for me just to move some slides around, without any issues!
The case study module was used as an in-class assignment, homework assignment and after completing this in class (and we had previously discussed related material and Love Canal, students had to use this example to profile another Superfund site of their choice as a homework assignment.) Sections of the case study used include Unit 2 - The Olin Chemical Superfund Site, Unit 3 - Toxicity of Chemicals at Olin Site, Unit 4 - Current Status - Wilmington. Students were engaged, and really wondered how they knew so little of this based on their chemistry education and also living in the US in general.
Advice I have for other chemistry instructors is definitely use it! Students really connect to this content, especially if you have them look up where Superfund sites are near either where they live, places they have visited, the campus, etc. Using the case study module in the class was also paired with a visit from MIT Superfund Research Program scientists (Kathy Mead Vandiver and Barath Baskaran) and that was a really awesome way to make everything more concrete. If you can find a superfund research program near you, definitely consider seeing if there is someone who might be a guest speaker to add on to this!
Pilot 2: Vaso Lykourinou, Associate Teaching Professor, Northeastern University, Boston MA, Chemistry & Chemical Biology
We piloted the Olin Superfund Module in CHEM 2326 'Introduction to Green Chemistry & Toxicology' I am teaching, which is now part of our chemistry/biochemistry and related combined/minors/double majors affiliated with chemistry. The course requires students to be in their second year of studies (minimum-we require general and organic chemistry lecture and lab completed), the students are mostly chemistry and biochemistry majors, 30 students total in this semester, and a good number of them are juniors/seniors with a handful completing the second semester in their second year.
The module was well organized, and for this first implementation, I was able to only allocate one lecture day (the course meets twice a week only for 100 minutes) so we assigned some of the content as pre-class viewing and reading, and then conducted a lecture discussion with the MIT team with presentations and students' questions. Going forward in future semesters I will allocate more time in our schedule, to also include some of the in class or HW related material from the module content you are providing. The content met all my expectations and needs. I think the materials currently included are sufficient for faculty to start to incorporate these ideas in a green chemistry and/or a toxicology course at the introductory level.
The case study module was used as an in-class assignment, and homework assignment. In future iterations I would like to include discussion board and in class discussions bringing in more the visiting colleagues (MIT Superfund Research Program team) relating to community involvement and impact which is something I would like to incorporate more in my course. Sections of the case study used include Unit 1 - Introduction to EPA Superfund, Unit 2 - The Olin Chemical Superfund Site, Unit 4 - Current Status - Wilmington, MIT Superfund Research Program team's presentations about research related to remediation. The students expressed interest and asked many questions during the presentations, also in post class discussions we had after the class visit and lectures and pre-class work.
Given that we were discussing routes of exposure and toxicology terms the week before this lecture and discussion, I would say be sure you use molecules discussed in this module here in previous segments (or make time to explicitly ask students about toxicity of chemicals at the Olin Site) which is a part that I didn't have time in class to do. However, I plan on having discussions prior in the next iterations.
Thank you for sharing the content and providing material to begin to incorporate the superfund concepts into our classroom, this also provided an opportunity to make connections with local colleagues (as the MIT Superfund Research Program team) and develop ideas of how to broaden the discussion about pollution and local communities impact and involvement in identifying superfund sites, pollution and remediation.
The case study was piloted in a course titled Reimagining Chemistry and explores the intersection of chemistry and the world around it. Students are juniors and seniors who have at least taken through organic chemistry. It had 24 students, and most students were chemistry, biochemistry, chemical physics, or other STEM majors. More than half of the class was pre-health.
The case study module was so easy to use and had a great level of detail. It had content that I wouldn't have known myself, and also was easy to modify for my course's needs. It looked great, and I will definitely use it again next year. The case study content met all my expectations and needs. For using the case study in my class, I had to condense some of the slides, because I had already talked about CERCLA and what Superfund sites are, but that isn't really an area for improvement. It was easy for me just to move some slides around, without any issues!
The case study module was used as an in-class assignment, homework assignment and after completing this in class (and we had previously discussed related material and Love Canal, students had to use this example to profile another Superfund site of their choice as a homework assignment.) Sections of the case study used include Unit 2 - The Olin Chemical Superfund Site, Unit 3 - Toxicity of Chemicals at Olin Site, Unit 4 - Current Status - Wilmington. Students were engaged, and really wondered how they knew so little of this based on their chemistry education and also living in the US in general.
Advice I have for other chemistry instructors is definitely use it! Students really connect to this content, especially if you have them look up where Superfund sites are near either where they live, places they have visited, the campus, etc. Using the case study module in the class was also paired with a visit from MIT Superfund Research Program scientists (Kathy Mead Vandiver and Barath Baskaran) and that was a really awesome way to make everything more concrete. If you can find a superfund research program near you, definitely consider seeing if there is someone who might be a guest speaker to add on to this!
Pilot 2: Vaso Lykourinou, Associate Teaching Professor, Northeastern University, Boston MA, Chemistry & Chemical Biology
We piloted the Olin Superfund Module in CHEM 2326 'Introduction to Green Chemistry & Toxicology' I am teaching, which is now part of our chemistry/biochemistry and related combined/minors/double majors affiliated with chemistry. The course requires students to be in their second year of studies (minimum-we require general and organic chemistry lecture and lab completed), the students are mostly chemistry and biochemistry majors, 30 students total in this semester, and a good number of them are juniors/seniors with a handful completing the second semester in their second year.
The module was well organized, and for this first implementation, I was able to only allocate one lecture day (the course meets twice a week only for 100 minutes) so we assigned some of the content as pre-class viewing and reading, and then conducted a lecture discussion with the MIT team with presentations and students' questions. Going forward in future semesters I will allocate more time in our schedule, to also include some of the in class or HW related material from the module content you are providing. The content met all my expectations and needs. I think the materials currently included are sufficient for faculty to start to incorporate these ideas in a green chemistry and/or a toxicology course at the introductory level.
The case study module was used as an in-class assignment, and homework assignment. In future iterations I would like to include discussion board and in class discussions bringing in more the visiting colleagues (MIT Superfund Research Program team) relating to community involvement and impact which is something I would like to incorporate more in my course. Sections of the case study used include Unit 1 - Introduction to EPA Superfund, Unit 2 - The Olin Chemical Superfund Site, Unit 4 - Current Status - Wilmington, MIT Superfund Research Program team's presentations about research related to remediation. The students expressed interest and asked many questions during the presentations, also in post class discussions we had after the class visit and lectures and pre-class work.
Given that we were discussing routes of exposure and toxicology terms the week before this lecture and discussion, I would say be sure you use molecules discussed in this module here in previous segments (or make time to explicitly ask students about toxicity of chemicals at the Olin Site) which is a part that I didn't have time in class to do. However, I plan on having discussions prior in the next iterations.
Thank you for sharing the content and providing material to begin to incorporate the superfund concepts into our classroom, this also provided an opportunity to make connections with local colleagues (as the MIT Superfund Research Program team) and develop ideas of how to broaden the discussion about pollution and local communities impact and involvement in identifying superfund sites, pollution and remediation.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.59877/FKOE3288
Other notes/information
Please refer to the lesson plan before using the case study units.
This resource was made possible with support to Beyond Benign from the NIH-NIEHS Superfund Research Program Grant P42-ES027707 (MIT Superfund Research Program). Any opinions, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the authors(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of Beyond Benign and MIT Superfund Research Program.
This resource was made possible with support to Beyond Benign from the NIH-NIEHS Superfund Research Program Grant P42-ES027707 (MIT Superfund Research Program). Any opinions, findings, and/or interpretations of data contained herein are the responsibility of the authors(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions, interpretations, or policy of Beyond Benign and MIT Superfund Research Program.
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