Campaign Update: Progress on FracTracker’s Community Air Monitoring Projects

In November 2022, FracTracker was awarded a total of $925,302 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to launch two community air monitoring initiatives in the Ohio River Valley, part of a $53 million national effort under the American Rescue Plan and Inflation Reduction Act. These projects focus on historically industrialized communities that have long been underrepresented in federal and state air monitoring efforts, despite facing disproportionate pollution burdens. 

As shale gas infrastructure continues to expand, understanding its impacts on air quality and frontline community health has become increasingly urgent. Residents’ reports of long-term health issues, including chronic illness, headaches, nausea, and fatigue often lack adequate response from public health officials or industry. To address this gap, FracTracker’s community science initiatives seek to supplement these critical testimonies with quantitative data, creating a more complete, two-dimensional understanding of these harms.  In partnership with Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab, Environmental Health Project, and Environmental Integrity Project, the team combines technical expertise with local knowledge to deploy advanced monitoring tools and better characterize emissions in overburdened areas.

After extensive research, training, and field testing, our team is ready to share progress from this campaign.