About the Richmond Air Monitoring Network
PSE Healthy Energy, in partnership with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), deployed a dense network of air quality monitors between January, 2020 and March, 2022, to take real-time measurements of air pollution in Richmond, North Richmond, and San Pablo, California.
The goals of this field project were to:
- Gather and report robust, hyper-local air quality data.
- Work with residents and community groups to identify priority areas with high air pollution and vulnerable populations.
- Support the efforts of regional and state air regulators and community groups to develop actionable policies and recommendations to reduce the community’s exposure to air pollutants.
- Raise local public awareness of the relationship between air quality and human health.
PSE conducted the two-year air-monitoring study to analyze the spatial patterns of local air pollution over time, assess the distribution of air pollution sources throughout the area, and track emission changes from varying transportation patterns, refinery operations, and other industrial activities.
We also expanded our Richmond Air Monitoring Network to monitor for black carbon across Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo. Black carbon, emitted during the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels, is linked to various adverse health impacts. The addition of low-cost black carbon sensors to existing air monitoring networks can help monitor for combustion-related emissions that are relevant to both human health and the environment. In Phase II and in partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), we deployed black carbon sensors during one winter month and one summer month in 2021, and during one wildfire event in 2020.
On December 15, 2022, PSE published a report outlining the Richmond Air Monitoring Network’s air quality monitoring efforts, key findings, and recommendations.
Why Richmond?
Richmond is one of the ten target communities selected by the California Air Resources Board for a Community Air Grant, a focused action to improve air quality in the areas with highest cumulative air pollution exposure burdens. The grants are supported through the Community Air Protection Program, a California Climate Investments program which was created with the passage of Assembly Bill 617. The Richmond-San Pablo area is a target community because it faces disproportionate impacts from multiple sources of air pollution, including oil and gas facilities, high traffic volumes, large and small industrial facilities, and port and freight activities. The city of San Francisco, located upwind from Richmond, is also a source of ozone precursor emissions. Despite these risk factors, there are few State air monitoring stations deployed in the area, and thus air quality data is limited. This information gap hinders local and State regulators from addressing air pollution effectively. The goal of the Richmond Air Monitoring Network is to address this gap.
Technical Advisory Committee
John Balmes, MD
Katharine Hammond, PhD
Thomas Kirchstetter, PhD
Rachel Morello-Frosch, PhD
Ajay Pillarisetti, PhD
Contact Us
If you have information on specific locations with air quality issues in the Richmond-San Pablo area, please contact us via phone or email:
- Boris Lukanov, PhD, Project Lead, (510) 330-5557
- Lee Ann Hill, MPH, (510) 330-5552
- Megan Zapanta (APEN)
Related Work
