Who we are
Clean Air GA (cleanairga.com) is an independent group of East Dublin and Laurens County, Georgia residents. Questions about this policy: webmaster@cleanairga.com.
Odor reports
When you submit the report form, our website saves an anonymous record containing only:
- an approximate location, generalized to roughly a 1/4-mile (about 400 meter) area: we snap the point to the center of a grid square and add a small random offset;
- the date and time you entered;
- the odor type, intensity (1–5) and how long it lasted;
- any health effects you ticked from the checklist (for example headache or nausea). The free-text “other effects” box is not stored;
- the weather at that time: temperature, wind speed and direction, conditions, and the weather source, station and observation time (or the wind and weather you typed, if you chose to edit it).
We do not store the address you type or your exact coordinates. They are used only for the moment it takes to compute the approximate point, then discarded. We do not store your name, email, phone, written description, typed “other effects,” or photos with the report.
The public map and its data feed show the approximate location, the day (not the time), odor type, intensity, temperature, wind speed and direction, and conditions. These records form a lasting community record of odor reports.
The odor tracker on our homepage and Data page shows only anonymous totals: how many reports were logged and how they break down by day, hour of day, day of week, intensity, and wind direction relative to the plant. Detailed breakdowns stay hidden until at least 5 reports have been logged. We may also compile these anonymous records into monthly summary reports for regulators and officials. Those reports list each complaint’s date, time, general area (such as “about 1 mile east of the plant”), odor details, health effects and weather, and never include names or contact information.
Automatic weather and wind direction
While you fill out the form, the page asks our server for the weather at the time you selected. To tell you whether the wind was blowing from the plant toward you, the page also sends the address you typed (or, if you pressed “Use my current location,” your device’s coordinates) to our server. This happens before you submit, each time you change the time or location.
- Our server sends the typed address to the U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder (and, as a backup, OpenStreetMap Nominatim) to get approximate coordinates, uses them only to compute the wind direction relative to the plant, and then discards them. The address and coordinates from this step are not stored or cached.
- For weather, our server contacts the National Weather Service (api.weather.gov) and Open-Meteo. It sends NWS only the station ID (KDBN, Dublin airport) and a time window. It sends Open-Meteo only a fixed point at the center of East Dublin and the date. Your address, location, and IP address are never sent to them; the requests come from our server, not your browser. Weather results (which contain no personal data) are cached briefly to reduce load.
If you never submit, nothing from this step is kept.
Your email to Georgia EPD
The form then opens a pre-filled email in your own email app, addressed to Georgia EPD. That email, including your name and contact details if you include them, is sent from your account directly to EPD. Our website does not see, receive, or store it, and nothing is sent unless you press Send.
“Remember my details on this device”
This option is off unless you check it. If you check it when you submit, your name, email, phone, the location you typed, and your mailing-list choice are saved only in your own browser (its “local storage”) so the form can fill them in next time. This saved copy is never sent to us. Our site receives only what is described above for reports and, if you opt in, the mailing list.
To clear it, click the “Forget me” link shown in the report form, submit with the box unchecked, or clear this site’s data in your browser settings. Anyone using the same browser and device could see the saved details, so don’t use this option on a shared or public computer.
Location from your device
If you press “Use my current location,” your browser will ask permission and share your device’s coordinates with the page. They are used only to create the approximate point described above. We never request your location unless you press that button.
Neighbor stories
If you share a story on our Stories page, we save what you enter: the display name you chose (first name or initials, or “Anonymous”), your general area, how long you’ve lived nearby (if you said), your story text, the time you gave consent, and your email if you provided one.
- Nothing is published automatically. Every story is reviewed first. We may lightly edit it for length or clarity, and we may decline to publish any story.
- If approved, we show your display name, general area, how long you’ve lived nearby (if given), the month it was shared, and your story text. By checking the consent box, you agree that we may publish it on this website and share it with reporters and public officials.
- Your email is private. We use it only to follow up about your story. It is never displayed, never shared, and never added to the mailing list.
- Please don’t include a street address or anything you don’t want made public. To change or remove your story, email webmaster@cleanairga.com.
Spam protection and IP addresses
To limit abuse, we count submissions (odor reports and stories) per visitor. We don’t store your IP address itself. We store a one-way scrambled (hashed) version of it in a counter that expires after one hour. The form also contains a hidden field that catches automated spam.
Like most websites, our web host may keep standard server logs (which can include IP addresses and browser type) for security and operations, under its own policies.
Mailing list (optional)
Only if you check “Add me to the Stop the Stank mailing list for updates” do we save your name, email, and phone (if you give one), plus the date and time you gave consent. This list:
- is stored privately and is visible only to site administrators;
- is never sold, rented, or shared, and never published;
- is kept separately and is never linked to your odor report or its location.
You can unsubscribe anytime using the link in any of our emails, or by writing to webmaster@cleanairga.com. You can also ask us to delete your entry entirely.
Third-party services
To run the site and map, your browser or our server contacts:
- U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder, and, as a backup, OpenStreetMap Nominatim: our server sends the address you typed to turn it into coordinates, both for the wind-direction note before you submit and to create the approximate map point when you submit. Your name and contact info are never sent.
- Address lookup: as you type an address (4 or more characters), the typed text is sent to Photon (photon.komoot.io, operated by Komoot) and OpenStreetMap Nominatim by our server, and, for street-number addresses, directly from your browser to the U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder (geocoding.geo.census.gov), which can see your IP address like any website you visit. We do not store or log the typed text. After you pick or enter an address, a small preview map with a pin shows the spot; you can drag the pin to adjust it. The pin’s coordinates are used for that submission only and are generalized to about 1/4 mile, as described above; exact pin coordinates are never stored.
- National Weather Service (api.weather.gov) and Open-Meteo: our server requests weather by station or a fixed East Dublin point and time only, as described above.
- OpenStreetMap tile servers: your browser loads map images directly from them.
- unpkg.com: your browser loads the open-source Leaflet map library from it.
- TraceMyIP (tracemyip.org): every page includes a third-party visitor counter, which may record your IP address, browser and device details, the page you visited, and the page that referred you. Complaint form contents are not sent to it.
- WordPress, the software that runs this site, and our web hosting provider, which stores the site’s data.
These services receive your IP address and standard browser information when contacted, and they handle it under their own privacy policies. Links to other websites (such as Georgia EPD, Change.org, or county offices) are governed by those sites’ policies.
Cookies
We don’t set advertising or analytics cookies ourselves. The TraceMyIP visitor counter may set its own cookies under its privacy policy. WordPress sets cookies only for people who log in to manage the site.
How long we keep data
- Anonymous odor reports: kept indefinitely as a community record. Administrators may remove reports that are spam or clearly erroneous.
- Stories: kept while they are under review or published. Stories we decline are deleted. Published stories stay up until you ask us to remove them.
- Rate-limit counters: expire automatically after one hour.
- Mailing list entries: kept until you ask us to delete them. If you unsubscribe, we keep your email marked as unsubscribed so we don’t contact you again, unless you ask us to delete it.
Children
This site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has joined our mailing list, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes and contact
If we change this policy, we’ll update the effective date above. Questions or requests: webmaster@cleanairga.com.