Air Quality Alert: How mobile air quality monitors reveal neighborhood-level disparities

“Clean Air Now” – HEAL Utah at the Air Art & Alternative Transportation Event. Photo courtesy of HEAL Utah.

In 2022, HEAL Utah received its first Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) project grant, partnering with Salt Lake County, the University of Utah, Utah Transit Authority, Salt Lake City, and others. Utilizing this grant, HEAL Utah purchased and installed air quality monitors on top of electric buses traveling around the Westside of the Salt Lake Valley. These monitors are now actively collecting data as the buses move from West Valley to Salt Lake Central Station, providing a more detailed understanding of local air quality.

Why mobile air quality monitors matter

Lexi Tuddenham, Executive Director of HEAL Utah, speaks at the Air Art & Alternative Transportation Festival at Jordan Park, highlighting the launch of the new air quality dashboard.  Photo courtesy of HEAL Utah.

Traditional stationary air quality monitors are effective at measuring pollution levels, but they have limitations. "Fixed-location monitors can’t capture the true variations in air quality across different neighborhoods," said Lexi Tuddenham, Executive Director of HEAL Utah. "By only measuring pollution in one spot, they can miss significant local differences, leading to an inaccurate picture of air quality."

By moving through various routes, mobile monitors can detect changes in air quality at a much finer scale. This helps community members and decision-makers understand the disparities that exist within often overlooked and under-resourced communities, such as the Westside of Salt Lake City. A growing network of mobile monitors on the Wasatch Front has helped build a more complete picture of air quality.

The EPA project specifically targets the East-West disparity in air pollution within Salt Lake Valley. Historically, the Westside of Salt Lake City has faced higher environmental impacts due to a combination of industrial zoning, traffic congestion, and less green space. These conditions are partly a legacy of redlining and other harmful policies that concentrated low-income and minority communities in areas with higher pollution levels.

Some UTA buses are fully electric. Photo courtesy of HEAL Utah.

"The data we are collecting is invaluable for highlighting the environmental injustices faced by Westside residents," said Lexi Tuddenham. "It is a crucial step in advocating for cleaner air and equitable policies."

The primary evaluation routes for this project include UTA bus routes 509 and 2, with additional monitors deployed on routes 4, 6, 9, 11, 17, 35, 205, and 551. By collecting data along these routes, the mobile air quality monitoring project aims to create a detailed online air quality map of the valley. This map, developed in partnership with Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, and multiple community stakeholders, provides a clear picture of air quality variations across different neighborhoods.

View of Rocky Mountain Power's Gadsby Plant in Salt Lake City on Thursday, August 7, 2024. Photo courtesy of HEAL Utah.

“Our team worked closely with community members in developing this dashboard, hosting focus groups and discussions with community leaders to guide the project,” said Meisei Gonzalez, an environmental justice advocate. “We acknowledge there is still much for us to improve, but these collaborations have been essential in addressing the specific needs and concerns of the Westside community.”

A path to cleaner air for the Westside

One of HEAL Utah’s primary goals is to advocate for the upgrade of all Utah Transit Authority buses to electric vehicles. Additionally, they aim to provide environmental justice data to support policy solutions created with and by community members. The success of this project would ultimately highlight the importance of environmental conservation and air quality in public and policy discussions. This initiative seeks to uplift a healthier future for Utah and to advocate for data-backed environmental justice solutions, offering underserved communities a platform to voice their environmental health concerns and experiences.

For more detailed information, visit healutah.org/myair.