North Suffolk

Developing a strategic plan for monitoring and mitigating air pollutants in the North Suffolk communities of Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop

In 2020, Air Partners worked with the North Suffolk Public Health Collaborative to obtain funding through the State Action for Public Health Excellence (SAPHE) Program to support the development of a strategic plan for monitoring and mitigating air pollutants. 
Similar to the policy and advocacy work with partners in East Boston, our process for developing the strategic plan began with stakeholder engagement with community advocacy groups, health professionals, and appointed officials across the North Suffolk communities of Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, in order to gain an understanding of their highest priorities for air monitoring and mitigation. These interviews also offered crucial insight into the social and environmental contexts of the communities, which varied widely in demographics, community identity, and pollutant sources. Insights gained through these interviews allowed the Air Partners team to develop a framework for researching and writing a strategic plan, which was presented to key stakeholders before embarking on the work. Importantly, the interview process allowed us to define deliverables that would be most actionable for the municipal officials receiving the strategic plan. 
Our approach to researching the strategic plan included literature research, interviews, pilot air monitoring and HEPA deployments, and gathering publicly-available data from the FAA, EPA, and Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). This research process yielded data that was summarized in in interactive map that visualizes and quantifies major sources of pollutants in the North Suffolk Communities.

Data from a pilot deployment of 6 ambient air monitors across the North Suffolk Communities was analyzed to confirm their ability to identify and quantify the location in space and time of the most significant pollutant sources in the area, and to justify further investments to expand the spatial resolution of the network. Over 300 HEPA air purifiers were deployed in pilot work associated with the grant work. Data from these pilots were analyzed to confirm that the devices are effective at reducing exposure in real-world use cases, and to support expanded investment in those devices as part of a mitigation strategy in the communities. 

Core components of the strategic monitoring and mitigation plan were summarized in a presentation for stakeholders, and included cost estimates for implementation and a phased implementation timeline. The plan was also summarized in written form and distributed to both community and municipal stakeholders, and Air Partners will consult with municipal agencies to implement components of the strategic plan, as well as to monitor and evaluate the efficacy of the work.