Air Monitoring Attacks

Supporting communities impacted by polluters is the driving force behind PSR PA. Time and again, the money and influence of the fossil fuel industry allow unimpeded harm to Pennsylvanians and people across the country. Our Air Monitoring Program is one effort to put the power back in the hands of residents by helping them to better understand air quality and empowering them to make informed health decisions. For example, a resident in Lackawanna County shared with us that she now knows to close her windows at night if her air monitor glows a red color before bed to avoid waking up with a sore throat. 

Leveraging the accessibility of open-source, low-cost monitors from PurpleAir has enabled us to install nearly 100 monitors throughout the commonwealth. We have strategically surrounded select facilities with air monitors to gain a better understanding of how pollution from landfills and other polluting infrastructure moves through communities. This allows us to provide more context to the PA Department of Environmental Protection when there are concerns about violations; track the movement of dangerous polluting events to inform residents; provide context for air quality concerns;, and return power to the communities being ignored and neglected.

Amidst the recent barrage of attacks on environmental protections across the country, community science programs like these are in the crosshairs. Louisiana lawmakers are putting restrictions on community air monitoring projects to delegitimize their relevance in pollution cases. Instead of finding ways to better protect those carrying the burden of pollution by effectively regulating the toxins created by polluting industries, they are attacking the community groups exercising their authority to understand their air quality and advocate for their right to clean air. 

There are many dangerous activities taking place in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, and across the nation. None of those activities includes the voices of communities speaking up about the harm being done to them. None of them include efforts to understand where and how pollution is being created. None of those activities include community members advocating for clean air. Willful ignorance is a far greater danger to public health than the community members and organizations working to protect their families and friends.