The city of Dallas' Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability has installed 28 air sensor monitors in the city of Dallas. Photo by Freddie Ortiz.
Aug. 30, 2024
Those interested in tracking local air quality can learn more about the technology available to consumers at a conference in Dallas next month.
The Air Sensor Summit will be held Sept 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Dallas Executive Airport. The event is free.
The Summit is hosted by the city of Dallas in partnership with Tarrant County College, North Central Texas Council of Governments, EPA Region 6, UT Dallas, Midlothian Breathe and Children’s Health. The program is aimed at municipalities, environmental nonprofits, state agencies and other stakeholders who want to learn more about using low-cost nonregulatory air sensors.
An air sensor was installed at Joppy Momma's Farm in southern Dallas as part ofthe Dallas Community Air Management Program. Photo by Freddie Ortiz.
This is the third Air Sensor Summit to be hosted by the coalition.
Maritza Figy, environmental coordinator for the city of Dallas’ Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability, is one of the event’s organizers.
“We held our first Air Sensor Summit last September and we just wanted to keep the conversation going,” she said. “It’s a growing sector. We just want to provide a space where we can learn from each other and provide resources for those who may be interested in starting a program or changing it up or growing their program.”
Since last year, the city of Dallas has installed 24 nonregulatory air quality monitors as part of the Dallas Community Air Management Program, aka D-CAMP.
“We installed at least one in every council district,” said Figy, who oversees the program with Freddie Ortiz.
Tom Randolph of Ambilabs and Maritza Figy, with the city of Dallas Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability, install an air monitor in the Floral Farms neighborhood in southern Dallas, site of the former Shingle Mountain. Photo by Freddie Ortiz.
In addition, an EPA grant purchased four additional monitors that are currently placed in West Dallas for a project in partnership with the Texas Transportation Institute.
The nonregulatory air monitors cost a fraction of what the state and federal air quality monitors cost.
Local environmentalists have long complained that there are only about 20 official EPA air quality monitors for the DFW area.
They are limited in their scope, according to experts.
“Regulatory monitors are very accurate but they are designed to assess background levels of pollution," Leslie Allsopp, a University of North Texas Health Science Center doctorial student involved in air pollution research, told Green Source DFW. "They let us know if policies are generally effective but they can’t identify exposure at a particular place or time.”
Air pollution can vary over 50-500 meters, she said.
Figy said installing the low-cost sensors helps fill in the gaps.
“We can install them in parts of the city where state and federal air monitors don’t reach,” she said .
Figy said they started installing monitors early last year. They were initially installed next to EPA monitors for several weeks to guage their accuracy. The readings from both monitors were compared and the new Dallas monitors were recalibrated as needed to ensure accuracy.
All of the monitors track particulate matter — known as PM 2.5 and PM 10. Some of them also track ozone, carbon monoxide and VOCs
The data from the monitors is posted on the live D-CAMP dashboard.
Figy said residents can use the information for their own evaluation. But the city also plans to hold outreach meetings with neighborhoods to raise awareness about the monitors and their findings.
The Summit next month will also have a roster of speakers with expertise in the field.
The line up includes, Dr. Suzanne Apodaca from the EPA Region 6 office, who will talk about EPA’s Air Sensor Rental Program.
Climate activist Nico Dominguez Carrero will make a presentation on air quality near concrete batch plants.
Omari Burrell from EPA Region 6 will present an overview of the EPA Environmental Climate Justice Communities Grant Program.
In addition, representatives from various air sensor companies will talk about their products, along with Dr. David Lary, who will talk about his work with air quality sensors at the University of Texas at Dallas.
The Summit is free and includes lunch. Register by Sept. 3 to reserve lunch.
Air Sensor Summit
Hosted by: City of Dallas, Tarrant County College, North Central Texas Council of Governments, EPA Region 6, UT Dallas, Midlothian Breathe, and Children’s Health.
When: Sept. 19, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Dallas Executive Airport, 5303 Challenger Drive, Dallas. Neil Armstrong Room.
Cost: Free. Includes lunch and free parking. Register by Sept. 3 to reserve lunch.
Info: Maritza Figy, [email protected].
RELATED ARTICLES
Can DIY air monitoring save DFW air?
Network aims to pinpoint air pollution in DFW
Portable air monitors are latest tool for North Texas activists
DFW watchdog group tests air monitoring program for kids
DFW air network gets green light from Dallas committee
Air monitoring training to be held in Dallas
DFW clean air consortium aims to ramp up local air monitoring
Citizen network to monitor tiny, deadly air hazard in DFW
North Texas watchdogs partner with academics, cities to step up air quality monitoring
Author
JULIE THIBODEAUX
Julie Thibodeaux is the Editor for Green Source DFW. Previously, she worked as an editor and writer at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
