Sunset Park Air Pollution Map
In the last weeks I've been meeting with a small group with some amount of expertise in air pollution issues. I shared with them a map of Sunset Park and explained some of the basic information - like the number of cars & trucks on the Gowanus and our general traffic patterns. Based on this information and the lay of the land - the gradual slope from the waterfront to 6th Avenue and then the drop back to sea level on the east side, they helped me mark locations where we believe air quality readings need to be taken.
We also took into account prevailing wind directions and the fact that ocean breezes sweep across Brooklyn from the Atlantic just a few miles away. And finally, we included "sensitive" locations - where the elderly or the very young congregate in large numbers and for many hours.
Based on all of this we came up with 23 locations. We had many more but eliminated some in the desire to be more realistic about being able to direct so many resources to one community.
While it may look daunting to think that we need to measure the 7 federally regulated pollutants at 23 locations I think we have a method that would work.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and Queens College of the City University of New York (QC-CUNY) conducts a New York City Community Air Survey, or NYCCAS, a program to monitor air quality across New York City.
They use an air monitoring device that is left for 2 weeks on lampposts at various locations and then moved.
I am proposing:
1. That our Assemblyman attempt to get the NYCCAS survey to come to Sunset Park for the intense study that we are requesting - to establish baseline data.
2. That based on this data we rework the map to a more manageable number.
3. That our Assemblyman provide State funding for the purchase of ten of these monitors for our permanent use. (they can be moved from time to time to increase our data). The model that we create here can be duplicated in other communities and our equipment can be loaned from time to time to make their purchase cost effective.
4. And finally, that our Assemblyman convene a Sunset Park Air Monitoring Work Group that would oversee this issue. I am attempting to find the manufacturer of these monitors and get a purchase price.
I have also asked that our Assemblyman, in conjunction with Sunset Park's other elected officials, attempt to get an agreement from the City, that in the future any business - private or public that comes to Sunset Park (or increases their presence in Sunset Park) and has 25 or more truck visits per business day be required to purchase and maintain one of these types of monitors at the entrance to their establishment and share that data with the community.