The Cleveland Department of Public Health’s Division of Air Quality, which enforces local air pollution regulations and investigates resident complaints, is seeking feedback about the placement of 30 new air-quality sensors.
The division’s Community Leveraged Expanded Air Network in Cleveland (CLEANinCLE) project is taking a resident-led approach to expand the division’s network of air-quality sensors to historically redlined neighborhoods that have poor health outcomes due in part to air pollution, according to the department’s website. The project also seeks to understand how to better serve residents with their air pollution concerns and address their health needs.
The division is hosting bi-monthly public meetings for residents starting on Feb. 21. Residents will have the opportunity to express air quality concerns and help design the real-time data dashboard that will track air pollution hotspots in the city. Residents will also have the opportunity to meet the new Community Air Advisors as they begin their year-long project.
Last month, the division hired six air ambassadors to gather information from their neighborhoods; learn about air quality topics, climate research and health; and decide where to place new air sensors and a mobile monitoring unit in Cleveland.
Finding solutions to Cleveland’s air quality issues
In 2022, the city’s health department was one of 131 groups to receive a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to enhance air-quality monitoring. The grant went directly into developing this project, the health department said in a statement.
The project is a partnership with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Better Health Partnership, Case Western Reserve University, and Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute. The health department will share the data with local hospitals so they can help come up with solutions to respond to respiratory health issues such as asthma.
The meetings are scheduled for the following dates:
- Wednesday, Feb. 21, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Collinwood Recreation Center
16300 Lakeshore Blvd.
- Saturday, Feb. 24, 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
The Tavern Coffee House
12302 Buckeye Rd.
- Saturday, Feb. 24, 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Scranton Bible Church
3095 Scranton Rd.
- Wednesday, Feb.28, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Lee Road Baptist Church
3470 Lee Rd.
- Tuesday, March 12, 6 to 7 p.m. (virtual, TBA)
Registration is encouraged but not mandatory. Refreshments, childcare, and translation services will be available. For more information, visit the CLEANinCLE website or contact Christina Yoka, chief of Air Pollution Outreach, at [email protected].