Thanks to a generous grant from the Delaware Health Sciences Alliance,  Clean Air Council will install 50 low-cost particulate matter monitors on homes, businesses, and organizations in Delaware this summer. These new monitors are an extension of the Council’s ongoing civic air monitoring campaign in North Philadelphia and this will be the Council’s first air monitoring campaign in Delaware. 

In South Wilmington and in the rest of New Castle County there is an abundance of gravel grinding and asphalt based businesses that generate large amounts of unregulated dust pollution in the form of asthma inducing particulate matter 2.5 pollution. South Wilmington, more specifically known as Southbridge, and other chronically flooded low-income communities of color along the Route 9 corridor in New Castle County suffer from an immense and expanding heavy industry zoning that overburdens residents with air pollution. 

Businesses and industrial site operators can be fined for dust blowing off material piles, and the data from these sensors will help residents make informed complaints to state environmental regulators and work them to better address the issue. The monitors are made by PurpleAir, and anyone can access data from any PurpleAir monitor running across the globe using purpleair.com/map. 

Please contact Russell Zerbo at rzerbo@cleanair.org oe 215-567-4004 x130 to schedule an air monitor installation in Delaware or to learn more about the Council’s air monitoring programs in Delaware and North Philadelphia.