RICHMOND — Hitting the road in a new effort to find air pollution hot spots, researchers will drive cars with fume-sniffing sensors through three Contra Costa County communities located near heavy industries and a major freeway.
Two cars will cruise through Richmond, San Pablo and El Cerrito at different times of night and day over the next year to generate data for pollution maps showing higher and lower exposure areas.
With most air pollution monitoring done by a network of fixed-place government monitors to characterize air quality over large areas, mobile sensors can detect pollution variations in different neighborhoods and blocks, say four research partners. The organizations include the state and Bay Area’s air pollution agencies, UC Berkeley and the Environmental Defense Fund, an environmental group.
“We hope this relatively new method of collecting pollution data can increase public understanding about the impacts of both mobile and stationary pollution sources,” said Anne Marie Borrego, a spokeswoman for the Environmental Defense Fund. “We want to provide the community with sound science to advocate for cleaner air.”
Richmond, San Pablo and El Cerrito were selected for the study because they are located along Contra Costa’s industrial belt, which has many heavy industries, and a stretch of Interstate 80 that is among the most congested transportation routes in the Bay Area, officials said. Previous studies have found that the area has elevated concentrations of benzene, a carcinogen found in gasoline and fuel exhaust.
“The more you know about pollution sources, the more you can look at ways to mitigate them,” said Tom Flannigan, a spokesman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which regulates air pollution in the nine Bay Area counties “We hope to learn more about patterns of air pollution.”
A website is being developed to share the data collected from the study.
Researchers said the Richmond air study will build upon a similar project done in the last year in Oakland. The study found much higher levels of air pollution along Interstate 880 than along Interstate 580.
The difference is largely attributed to a 1963 decision by Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration to ban trucks weighing more than 4.5 tons on I-580. The ban protected Oakland neighbors along I-580 from diesel truck pollution from vehicles going to and from the Port of Oakland, and resulted in more traffic using I-880 in and near west Oakland, the researchers concluded.
Many West Oakland neighbors have complained they are subjected to an unequal burden of exposure to diesel truck pollution.
Costs for the new study in the three communities were not immediately available. They will be shared by the two pollution agencies, UC Berkeley and the environmental group.
The California Air Resources Board is supplying the pollution-monitoring equipment, which is mounted on the top of a car.
One car is ready to go, and a second will be added later, officials said.
