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Press Release  AG Healey Announces Launch of New Air Monitoring Website to Help Pioneer Valley Residents Track Pollution Levels in Their Neighborhoods

Result of Funding Provided by AG’s Office for the Installation of Air Quality Monitors in Springfield; Collaborative Effort to Inform Public Health Responses in a Region with High Asthma Levels
For immediate release:
4/12/2022
  • Office of Attorney General Maura Healey

Media Contact   for AG Healey Announces Launch of New Air Monitoring Website to Help Pioneer Valley Residents Track Pollution Levels in Their Neighborhoods

Chloe Gotsis

BOSTONAttorney General Maura Healey today announced the launch of a new interactive website that allows Pioneer Valley residents to measure air pollution levels in their neighborhoods and provides them with guidance on how to protect themselves from exposure to certain air pollutants. The new resource is the result of a partnership with municipal, public health, and environmental leaders to help a region that has long been disproportionately impacted by environmental injustices, and consistently has among the highest rates of asthma in the country. 

The website – which is  funded by the AG’s Office and supported by the Pioneer Valley Healthy Air Network, Yale University, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Bay State Health, ReGreen Springfield, the City of Springfield and other community organizations – provides residents with minute-by-minute data from air quality sensors that are being installed throughout the region. The initial sensors for the project were funded by the AG’s Office, and further sensors in the area are being funded by the EarthWatch Institute. 

“For decades, policy decisions have been made that unjustly forced historically marginalized communities in cities like Springfield to breathe polluted air and to suffer impacts to their health as a result,” AG Healey said. “This website together with our office’s Clean Air Initiative will provide families with resources and information to protect themselves from the serious health risks posed by air pollution. I’m grateful to our partners in this effort for their commitment to making this region a healthier place to live.”  

The website is part of AG Healey’s Clean Air Initiative, which is focused on tackling air pollution that disproportionately impacts historically marginalized communities in cities like Springfield and Holyoke. On Earth Day last year, AG Healey announced the air quality monitoring project and the installation of 80 air quality sensors across Springfield to collect data on pollution hotspots and inform public health measures. Since then, the project has expanded with additional sensors added in Holyoke, Chicopee, and Easthampton.

Poor air quality is linked to higher rates of asthma and other chronic health conditions. Each year, more than 200,000 people nationwide die from lung and heart disease caused by air pollution. Fine particulate matter pollution is the largest environmental health risk factor in the country and increased exposure to the pollutant is linked to higher rates of COVID-19. The project’s sensors track the amount of particulate matter and ozone – both of which lead to serious respiratory issues – and other toxic contaminants in the air. 

“My Administration and I remain committed to green initiatives that not only improve our air quality, but also bring enhanced environmental awareness to our community,” said Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno. “I would like to thank Attorney General Maura Healey and her staff for partnering with the City of Springfield and other community stakeholders for this air quality monitoring project. I am thrilled that our residents will have access to this new and interactive website.”   

 “I am delighted to partner with many communities on this collaborative project supported by the Office of the Attorney General,” said Dr. Krystal Pollitt Assistant Professor of Environmental Health Science at Yale University School of Public Health. “The Pioneer Valley Healthy Air Network will provide the cities of Springfield, Holyoke, and Chicopee with real-time, high-quality air quality information. I look forward to sharing these measurements with residents and identifying actionable solutions that address local air pollution issues.” 

“The Pioneer Valley Healthy Air Network will provide community level data needed to understand and take action to address the alarmingly inequitable high rates of asthma,” said Jessica Collins, Executive Director of the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts. “We are pleased to lead this collaborative effort along with the Attorney General’s Office in partnership with many communities to support innovative air quality interventions in our region.” 

“At Earthwatch we believe every person can make a meaningful contribution to science,” said Gitte Venicx, CEO at EarthWatch Institute. “We are proud to be engaging community members and partners across the Pioneer Valley in collecting air quality data and making it accessible. The project provides hyperlocal air quality data, which supports community members to make informed decisions on reducing their exposure and plan actions to improve air quality in the region.”  

This new website will give families in the region the tools they need to monitor pollution in their community. This information will help residents protect their health when high levels of pollutants are detected in their air. Included on the website is a map of the region with the live monitors that change color based on measured air quality. Users can click on each air monitor for more information about the site and the precautions to consider, if any, based on the current air quality. For each monitoring site in the network, particulate matter (which is also called PM2.5) levels are reported together with the air quality index (AQI), a national index of air pollution. AQI values range from 0 to 500 and are divided into six categories – good, moderate, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and hazardous. The website also includes guidance for how to protect yourself from exposure at each level and what types of activities to avoid as well as additional information on climate change, background on environmental justice communities and how interested residents can host an air monitor. 

The AG’s Environmental Protection Division will use the information to guide its enforcement work and will prioritize its investigations and cases in those communities that have been disproportionately burdened with environmental and other injustices for decades. Advocating for clean air has long been a priority of the Environmental Protection Division, which successfully fought to reduce the amount of harmful ozone, particulate matter, and other dangerous air pollution that afflicts Massachusetts communities, including the substantial  pollution from sources like power plants, factories, and cars in upwind states. 

The air monitoring project was informed by input from a community advisory board made up of Springfield residents whose feedback helped determine the content of the website and the location of the air quality monitors – which are currently placed at municipal buildings, homes (by request), health care provider offices, and other high traffic areas.    

In May 2020, AG Healey issued a brief on the environmental factors, including elevated exposure to particulate matter pollution, that have compounded the pandemic’s disparate impact on Black and Hispanic communities in Massachusetts, and the steps the state should take to address the longstanding impact of environmental injustice on those communities, including the installation of robust networks of air quality monitors to track hot spots of particle pollution within vulnerable neighborhoods. 

For more information and to view the website and air monitor locations, click here.  

This project is being overseen for the AG’s Office by Assistant Attorney Generals Emily Mitchell and Nora Chorover, and Division Chief Betsy Harper, all of AG Healey’s Environmental Protection Division.   

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Media Contact   for AG Healey Announces Launch of New Air Monitoring Website to Help Pioneer Valley Residents Track Pollution Levels in Their Neighborhoods

  • Office of the Attorney General 

    Attorney General Maura Healey is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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