CARB Community Air Grant Spotlight
CFROG’s (Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas) CARB-funded Community Air Protection Program is building an avenue for members of Ventura County’s Environmental Justice (EJ) communities to affect policy, especially with regard to their health. Our partnerships with the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (VCAPCD), California State University, Channel Islands (CSUCI), teachers and school district staff, and the local Boys & Girls Clubs are essential in building the knowledge needed for community members to improve their neighborhood air quality.
The Communities
The areas of Oxnard and Ventura included in this program are disproportionately affected by environmental hazards, because of both high levels of pollution and socioeconomic factors, as indicated by CalEnviroScreen 3.0. Furthermore, of the 27 facilities in Ventura County permitted for high emissions, 12 are located in Oxnard. The community in Ventura also contains two “methane super-emitters,” an oil and gas field and a compressor station, according to a recent study by NASA.[1] There are 55 of these super-emitters in California, and they are responsible for about a third of the state’s methane budget. These two communities are exposed to heavy emissions from these nearby facilities; our program is geared towards building an avenue for residents in these EJ communities to be involved in the solution.
My School, My Air
Through our My School, My Air classroom education program, CFROG offers schools and youth organizations in Ventura County hand-held air monitors, and an air quality curriculum through Sonoma Technology, Inc.’s Kids Making Sense program. The curriculum includes hands-on activities that call attention to air pollution, its sources, and its health impacts. This exposes youth to possible solutions at an age when they are establishing their personal habits, including transportation and energy use habits.
Ten teachers from three school districts participated in the first year of My School, My Air, and five teachers from a fourth district were added for the 2019-20 school year. Each year, teachers were provided an all-day training on the curriculum by air quality scientists from Sonoma Technology.
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Elementary school students using the AirBeam-2
particulate matter sensors to detect PM levels near a natural gas curb stop
valve box.
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“We have had a lot of success with the kids and the air [monitors]. The kids are focused on the PM 10 and 2.5 readings all around the Boys and Girls Club and examine the map to see where its healthiest for them to hang around. We have been following the first few lessons and the kids seem to enjoy it, but mostly value the live readings and viewing the map after. Sadly, we only have about 45 minutes each session and we get different ages and children daily, but it has been a great success overall.”
The Club will continue to use the Kids
Making Sense kits during school breaks.
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This shows a summary of all particulate matter readings
collected at the Oxnard Boys & Girls Club.
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We are proud to offer this hands-on experiential education opportunity to students in the county. Beyond the Kids Making Sense curriculum, we are providing participating classrooms the opportunity to interface with college students and local policymakers through our partnerships with CSUCI and the Coalition for Clean Air (CCA).
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Dr. Sean Anderson (CSUCI) and Dr. Victor Polanco (CCA)
explain opportunities for students to receive mentorship from college students
and interface with policymakers.
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My People, My Air
My People, My Air is a community education program that provides members of impacted communities with the information they need to protect themselves from air pollution. We began the program by providing community members with the same hand-held particulate matter monitors as those used in our My School, My Air program, so that residents of impacted communities can collect information about their own air quality. We held community meetings where we discussed with residents the health impacts, sources, and possible improvements that can be made to improve their neighborhood air quality. The concerns we heard at community meetings were regarding emissions from the oil and gas industry, pesticides, and other industry-related emissions. However, the hand-held devices are limited to particulate matter and do not collect information about gaseous emissions that are of concern to these residents. After preliminary sessions with residents using the hand-held monitors, we determined with support from our Technical Advisory Committee that the monitors are not an effective tool to engage adults and to address the concerns of residents of our priority communities.
We are therefore focusing on outreach through educational programs and public engagement, tailoring air pollution education to the communities’ stated interests and needs. We attend local events and distribute information about air quality and pollution, contact information for local representatives to be approached with questions or concerns about air quality, as well as wildflower seeds, oak tree seedlings, and kids’ games to make it appealing and family-friendly.
The residents we have engaged through CFROG’s My People, My Air program have been actively involved in efforts to advocate for improved air quality in their neighborhoods and throughout Ventura County. We’ve seen our My People, My Air participants attending hearings about the County’s General Plan Update and the development of its first Climate Action Plan, and advocating against the proposal to expand an oil field in a heavily impacted area of South Oxnard. We are pleased by the level of engagement we’ve seen among community members when given the information they need to be involved in policies that impact their communities.
In addition to these community engagement efforts, we are also using cutting-edge technology to enhance spatial resolution and understanding of air pollution concentrations in our priority communities. In Oxnard and Ventura, we are installing comprehensive air monitoring systems to supplement the information collected by the five county air monitoring stations.
Discovering Seeps
The Thomas Fire ravaged Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties in 2017 and 2018. When it passed through Upper Ojai, the fire ignited oil seeps in the area, resulting in underground and surface fires that smoldered long after the wildfire was contained. The area’s rough terrain and the burning oil seeps’ high temperatures make them hard to reach with traditional means. We overcame these barriers by partnering with CSUCI researchers and professional climbers to use drones and sampling equipment to find, map, and measure emissions from burning oil seeps in Upper Ojai. More than a year following containment of the fire a smoldering seep was found in Upper Ojai that emitted high levels of incompletely combusted hydrocarbons. While the drone surveys are still in progress, results to date suggest that measures taken to suppress seep fires have proved highly successful at extinguishing these fires. When left unchecked, these fires can migrate deep underground, grow, and burn for decades. This is the case for a six-acre underground fire still burning north of the Ventura County town of Fillmore.
With an increased understanding of air pollution in impacted communities, CFROG is engaging community members and leading efforts to improve the local airshed.
[1] Duren,
R.M., Thorpe, A.K., Foster, K.T. et al. California’s methane super-emitters.
Nature 575, 180–184 (2019)