A project will get underway, beginning in June, to monitor the air quality in Springfield – once dubbed the “asthma capital” of the United States. Local residents can take part in the study… and receive a stipend for your work.
Air quality sensors will be placed throughout the city to measure air pollution levels and provide information in real time to help people take steps to protect themselves from exposure. The project is being paid for by the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey with $50,000 from settlement funds paid by polluters.
If you are interested in participating in this project, you are invited to join our Advisory Committee! We are looking for residents to participate in the process to set up and monitor the air quality sensors. Residents will help with the following:
- Help environmental partners to identify air quality monitoring sites in each city.
- Help create community messaging about the installation of the air quality monitors and ways to use the information to inform the community
- Build an understanding of climate resilience and environmental justice initiatives and advocacy in Springfield, Chicopee, and Holyoke.
- Promote and share other climate resilience and environmental justice initiatives efforts in the community
- Resident Advisors receive a $100/month stipend. The project runs from April – June.
APPLY TO BE A RESIDENT ADVISOR:
To apply to be a Resident Advisor, please fill out this Google Form or please contact Samantha Hamilton, Live Well Springfield Manager, Public Health Institute of Western MA or 413-794-2807.
This project is a collaboration of the following organizations: Live Well Springfield, Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition, ReGreen Springfield, City of Springfield, City of Holyoke, Earthwatch, and Yale School of Public Health. Funding provided by the MA Attorney General’s Office of Environmental Enforcement and MA Municipal Vulnerability Program.
TO LEARN MORE:
To hear more about the project, please listen to the audio segment on WAMC – Northeast Public Radio. Visit t.ly/se5q to access the audio story by Paul Tuthill, WAMC Connecticut Valley Bureau Chief.
On Saturday, June 19th, community volunteers worked to help restore vegetation in the Poor Brook Watershed in East Springfield. New understory native trees were planted, along with ground covers and pollinator attracting perennials that will also help control erosion. The planting day is part of the ‘Outdoor Adventure’ series of events taking place in the Poor Brook Watershed this summer.
