Massachusetts Receives Federal Earmark to Expand Healthy Air Network

SPRINGFIELD — The Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts received a $370,000 federal earmark to expand the Healthy Air Network, thanks to the leadership of U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren.

The Healthy Air Network is a collaboration of municipalities, public-health organizations, community-based organizations, and environmental groups in Western Mass. Together, they collect and provide real-time, hyperlocal air-quality information through their website, healthyairnetwork.org.

“Thanks to this funding, we can provide residents with the tools they requested to better protect their health and advocate for cleaner air, which is especially important in communities disproportionately impacted by pollution,” said Jessica Collins, executive director of the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts.

Markey and Warren secured the funding through congressionally directed spending in the FY 2024 funding package.

“Community and civic leaders in the Pioneer Valley are dedicated to making the state a healthier, cleaner, safer, and more just place to live,” Markey said. “I am proud, with my congressional delegation partners, to bring important investments directly to local communities and initiatives to further their goals.”

Added Warren, “everyone, regardless of where they live, is entitled to clean air. This federal funding will go a long way toward ensuring residents of Western Massachusetts have the tools they need to maintain healthy communities and protect their well-being.”

The new funding will allow the network to develop a mobile app and upgrade the website. A community-driven design process will ensure the app is user-friendly and presents data in a way that is useful and actionable to residents. The funding will also allow the network to expand the air-sensor network. Ten sensors will be added in five communities, primarily in Western Mass., to provide a more detailed picture of air-quality variations.

With this new infrastructure, residents can avoid outdoor time on high-risk air-quality days, potentially reducing health problems like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease. Often, low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by air pollution due to historical factors like redlining, which has made these communities more likely to be located near highways, industrial sites, and other sources of pollution.

“Many of us take breathing for granted,” Springfield resident Gri Saex said. “This app will provide us with a reminder of how important it is to breathe and, most importantly, to breathe healthy air. We would have on-the-spot information about the air quality on the move, enabling us to avoid unnecessary exposure to unhealthy air.”

This project is supported by a variety of municipalities, community organizations, and environmental groups, including the city of Springfield, the city of Holyoke, Live Well Springfield, Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition, Hitchcock Center for the Environment, ReGreen Springfield, Westfield Residents Advocating for Themselves, Earthwatch Institute, Yale School of Public Health, Health Resources in Action/Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership, USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, and an advisory board of eight resident advisers from Holyoke, Springfield, and Westfield.