Copyright Baton Rouge Advocate
After months of work and political wrangling over potential legal impact, a new, small network of air sensors began collecting real-time data in four Mississippi River communities and has already detected spikes in pollution since going live in September, an environmental group says. For years, community and environmental advocates have argued that the state should require real-time, fence-line air monitoring around the state's major industrial facilities to supplement its regional network with more localized data. But the idea has faced resistance from industry, regulators and legislators over the cost, the fear of false positives and of providing fuel for lawsuits. Located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, new AQMesh sensors sponsored by environmental group LEAN represent a different tack, putting monitors in the community and offering, the nonprofit's officials believe, the potential to spur voluntary air quality improvements even if the sensors' data don't have regulatory teeth. "It is our hope that by shining a light on contaminants in the air, we can show companies where their operations are having potentially adverse impacts on neighboring citizens, as well as on company workers, and can spur constructive discussions of ways to reduce emissions and lessen the health impacts," Marylee Orr, LEAN's executive director, said in a statement. The AQMesh sensors can't carry the force of law because they don't meet a new state equipment standard, LEAN officials acknowledge, but they insist the accuracy is close to regulatory-level equipment. Financed with part of a $500,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, the four LEAN air sensors are located in Alsen, Geismar, St. James and Donaldsonville. The communities were selected after an earlier phase of the project used Aclima's mobile air monitoring car to identify pollution hotspots in the river region. Running since the beginning of the year, the four sensors were first calibrated for months standing next to Louisiana regulatory air monitors and were found to meet EPA thresholds for data comparability with the state equipment, LEAN's scientific advisors say. The monitors collect information on fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, total volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. They also collect data on wind speed and direction, with the information published on LEAN's website every 15 minutes. These pollutants are regulated by the state and federal government, have known health impacts and are common near industrial sources, but, in many cases, can come from many other sources as well. Slawomir Lomnicki, an LSU environmental science professor who is advising LEAN, explained that the data so far are providing clear trends, including spikes in Geismar for volatile organic compounds, a class of chemicals that can be tied to toxic industrial pollution. "When we look at the correlation between atmospherical conditions and these pollutants, in many cases, you can see a very clear correlation with the direction from where the plume is coming," he said. 'This is historic' LEAN officials say they have been meeting with community members to discuss the data and then will facilitate meetings between residents and area companies "to explore ways to correct and prevent emissions incidents." The arrival of the sensors has sparked a mix of praise and criticism from community groups, as well as caution from industry and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. "This is historic; for the first time, we have access to real-time information about the air we’re breathing. And now, we—the people—can be part of the solution," Pastor Harry Joseph, LEAN’s local community shepherd, who oversees the air quality sensor in St. James Parish, said in a LEAN statement. DEQ officials said they don't yet have enough information to comment on the air sensors. The Louisiana Chemical Association, a key trade group for river industries and outspoken critic of the cost and feasibility of public fence-line monitors, said it wants to review the findings "to better understand" them, "confirm their methods and quality controls, and interpret how the results compare with reported emissions data from state and federal authorities." "Ambient measurements can reflect background levels and non-industrial contributors, including traffic and other businesses, so we want to ensure these are properly taken into account," said David Cresson, president and CEO of LCA and its sister organization, the Louisiana Chemical Industry Alliance. "We hope to continue to work with LEAN to identify the areas of impact as indicated by their data, and if the specific source can be verified, take practical steps to remediate the issue." Other community groups have criticized the sensors as technologically insufficient, though those criticisms have come in the context of a parallel LEAN project still under development in St. Rose. Four more AQMesh sensors are in place and being calibrated for future reporting in the St. Charles Parish community, where chronic smells and emissions have fueled concern over a large tank farm owned by International Matex Tank Terminals. Those sensors come after DEQ removed one of its own community monitors a few years ago that both residents and IMTT had wanted to remain. Though LEAN's early mobile testing didn't find St. Rose was an emissions hotspot, according to a report on that work, IMTT agreed to finance additional LEAN sensors. The data will be collected by a third party and published in real time on LEAN's website, like the current data. Kimbrelle Eugene Kyereh, who leads the St. Rose community group Refined Community Empowerment, said she didn't trust LEAN's early hotspot findings and argued the LEAN sensors won't provide specific enough information about what kinds of toxic chemicals are in the air. Traci Johnson, IMTT's vice president for environment, health, safety and security, said the company followed LEAN's recommendations on which chemicals the sensors should test for. 'What's going on here?' In 2024, as environmental groups began proposing their own community-based systems and conducting other efforts like mobile air monitoring, the Legislature pushed through new rules that barred data from these systems from being used for regulatory actions or lawsuits if they didn't match federal standards for regulatory air monitoring equipment. That law is the subject of a 1st Amendment lawsuit brought in federal court by environmental groups, though not LEAN. Larry Starfield, a retired top EPA official and lawyer who also advised LEAN, said that while the sensors are not the same as regulatory air monitors, they have seen great improvement in accuracy over the past decade and come at significantly lower cost than regulatory equipment. Starfield, who spent his last 12 years at EPA as the principal deputy assistant administrator for enforcement before his retirement in 2023, said that LEAN's advance calibration work has shown the results "are highly consistent with readings that would be expected using LDEQ’s regulatory monitor." But he added that LEAN's intended application will fit a role that EPA says is acceptable for sensors and won't violate the new state law, highlighting instead elevated emissions in the hopes of voluntary corrections, not to allege violations of law. "Where you have people living so close to industry, having a local, real-time, every-15-minute look at what's going on in your neighborhood in terms of air quality is just unique, and so it just gives them a chance to raise a flag and say, 'Hey, what's going on here?'" he said. Starfield pointed out that the earlier phase of the LEAN project that used the air monitoring car found elevated emissions and a company quickly corrected the problem after it was informed. He called it a "different way of doing business" than more traditional, slower methods through enforcement or litigation.
