Breathe Oregon Webinar: Community Monitoring Projects
The Breathe Oregon webinar featured three presentations on community air monitoring projects, showcasing Portland State University's diesel emissions research, the Blueprint Foundation's community-centered scientist training program, and DEQ's new Community Air Action Planning pilot that aims to shift regulatory approaches to be more community-driven.
Summary
The webinar highlighted the evolution of community air monitoring from expensive regulatory-only tools to community-accessible approaches. Dr. Linda George presented Portland State University's research on diesel particulate matter and distribution centers, showing through modeling and field measurements that while distribution centers have limited regional air quality impact, they create significant localized pollution through truck idling and activity. The study found elevated levels of black carbon, ultrafine particles, and noise near active distribution centers compared to inactive sites, with clear differences between weekday and weekend measurements.
Duron Kals introduced the Blueprint Foundation's Change in the Air program, which trains Black youth as community scientists using the WISE model (Witness, Investigate, Solve, Educate). This workforce development program addresses both the technical aspects of air monitoring and the systemic inequities in environmental health, emphasizing that those most impacted by air pollution should drive solutions. The program builds community capacity for data collection, analysis, and advocacy while creating career pathways for participants.
Ryan Bellon presented DEQ's new Community Air Action Planning pilot, representing a significant shift for the regulatory agency toward community-centered monitoring. The two-phase program starts with understanding community concerns through monitoring and knowledge mapping, then moves to community-led action planning. DEQ selected four diverse communities across Oregon (Rockwood/Wilkes East, McMinnville, Medford, and Chiloquin) based on pollution and community indicators, with the goal of empowering communities to own their data and drive decision-making processes.
Key Insights
- Dr. George explains that when neighbors for clean air started their work, air monitoring was incredibly expensive and only done by regulators to prove compliance with federal standards, not to answer community health questions
- Distribution centers have grown significantly, with 42% of new construction projects in Portland being warehouse-related, driven by the increase in e-commerce from 5% to 20% of retail purchases between 2010-2020
- Dr. George's modeling shows that distribution centers have limited impact across the whole city but create significant localized pollution concentrations right at the source sites
- The Blueprint Foundation uses the WISE model where Black youth witness nature, investigate environmental challenges, solve problems through restoration work, and educate younger students, changing perspectives about who does science
- Duron Kals argues that climate action plans will only be successful if they center community involvement, as this creates interventions customized for underground conditions and builds essential trust
- Change in the Air program positions participants at the far right end of the community engagement continuum, emphasizing transparency, relationship building, and ensuring community ownership of data and ideas
- Ryan Bellon acknowledges that DEQ is not the expert in community-scale monitoring, stating they are coming in humbly to learn from practitioners like Linda and Duron who have been doing this work for years
- DEQ's traditional model of thinking about air pollution in individualized programs doesn't handle the complex challenges faced by historically underserved and socioeconomically burdened communities
- The Community Air Action Planning program works through community partnerships with neighbors for clean air, research consultants, and Portland State University to ensure data is publicly shared in real time with collecting communities
- DEQ received several hundred applications for their pilot program but can only work with four communities initially, indicating much greater demand than available resources
- Ryan Bellon describes the organizational change at DEQ as building new muscles and shifting from viewing government as problem solvers to sense makers who help explore community-wide resources for finding solutions
- Mary emphasizes that Linda George's 15 years of research has transformed diesel pollution from looking like an amorphous blob across Portland metro to clearly identifying specific sources like equipment, trucks, and distribution centers
Topics
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