Air monitoring system gets $160K grant
In order to ensure the continuation of air quality data collection across the Imperial Valley, the California Air Resources Board announced Monday it would commit $160,000 to evaluate and improve the performance of Comité Cívico del Valle’s IVAN network.
The latest funding will be used to host public meetings, provide outreach materials about the network and maintain and repair the existing monitors. Currently, Comité Cívico manages an air monitoring network designed and operated by local residents that measure particulate matter concentrations at nearly 40 locations throughout the Imperial Valley.
The IVAN monitoring network (for Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods) uses low-cost air sensors that measure air pollutants in real-time and requires less field support infrastructure than other traditional air monitoring devices.
“Across California, there are communities just like ours that have poor air quality. We have created a monitoring network that puts air quality data into the hands of Imperial Valley residents who can take air quality into account when doing their daily routines,” said Luis Olmedo, executive director of Comité Cívico. “Through the partnership with CARB, we are providing a model to the rest of the state and demonstrating the importance of citizen science. This kind of community empowerment leads to jobs and boosts the local economy.”
Olmedo and his team began their efforts a few years ago, thanks to a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for nearly $2 million.
That initial grant allowed Comité to begin its monitoring efforts to offer the local residents real-time data with monitors throughout the Valley, offering a more comprehensive look at local air quality.
Comité Civico is currently working to sustain and strengthen its air monitoring network and in September it also secured $100,000 from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation for its network.
“The Comité Cívico del Valle is a pioneer in helping community residents obtain air quality information they can use,” said CARB’s Assistant Executive Officer for Environmental Justice Veronica Eady. “This partnership will help CARB to better understand the air quality trends at the local level, and learn more about the best application of the latest generation of monitoring technologies to help clean the air in communities throughout California that need it the most.”
“We have created a monitoring network that puts air quality data into the hands of Imperial Valley residents who can take air quality into account when doing their daily routines.” Luis Olmedo, executive director of Comité Cívico
The partnership in the Imperial Valley will provide CARB with an opportunity to learn more about the deployment, operation, and upkeep of new air monitoring technology. It will also serve as a possible template for additional community-based air monitoring systems to help improve air quality in areas most affected by air pollution, particularly in disadvantaged communities.
“Air quality is an incredibly important issue that continues to threaten the health of Imperial Valley residents,” said Sen. Ben Hueso. “Many of the impacted families are facing significant hurdles, including high rates of unemployment, and cannot afford to continue waiting while their health, and that of their children continues to worsen. I am very grateful for the efforts of Comité Cívico del Valle and congratulate them on partnering with the California Air Resources Board to continue to develop solutions to address environmental hazards affecting the lives of Imperial Valley residents.”
Olmedo said the partnership demonstrates the CARB’s commitment to work with community organization and paves the way to replicate the system in other afflicted areas of the state.
The most recent efforts by Comité Cívico now include the goal of replicating the Valley’s network in the neighboring Coachella Valley, which he hopes the organization can make a reality by the end of the year.
“I highly commend Comité Cívico del Valle for their on the ground, leading efforts, empowering residents to understand and transform the environmental landscapes of their own communities. Their local and statewide advocacy has placed air quality and public health at the forefront of climate action,” said Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia. “It is exciting to see the California Air Resources Board recognize and support their innovative citizen science methods. This partnership will allow the organization to grow their capacity to improve air quality and combat pollution for our Imperial County families, who have been suffering the public health ramifications of this grim reality.”