Air Quality Project 1

Air Quality Project

Professor Tait Chirenje

ENVL 3241 Environmental Pollution and Regulation

Lara Beck, Amanda DeVico, Eddie McLaughlin, Derek Hafstad

Stockton University
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Abstract:

This air quality project was broken up into three different objectives that all have a direct

correlation with environmental justice, and the air quality in lower income and minority

communities, and large cities. By looking at national data, we were able to discover a few things

about air quality. We discovered that there is a direct correlation between race/income and their

proximity to brownfield sites and brownfield grants.. It shows that lower income and minority

communities are the ones that live around these sites of interest. We also discovered that there is

a correlation between lower income and minority communities and having worse air quality than

better off neighborhoods. The final thing we discovered was that holidays in New York City,

especially on major holidays, have very high levels of particulate matter in their air.
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Table of Contents

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………...2

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………....4

Methods…………………………………………………………………………………………...7

Results……………………………………………………………….……………………………8

Conclusions & Discussion………………………………....…………….…………...……...…21

References………………………………….………………………………………………...….24

Appendix……………………………….………………………………………………………..26
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Introduction

This project was designed to determine correlations and observe air quality from different

locations in New Jersey and New York City. The first objective was to determine if there was

any correlation between income/race and the proximity to superfund sites, brownfields,

highways, etc. The second objective was to compare lower income and minority communities air

quality by looking at all the parameters, but focusing on Ozone levels. The third objective was to

compare air quality data taken from New York City during major holidays in different seasons.

The first objective involved finding a correlation between income/race and their

proximity to superfund sites, brownfields, highways etc. For this objective we compare towns of

lower income and higher income in both Monmouth and Atlantic county, New Jersey. We also

compared the population of minorities to the lower and higher income towns in both of these

counties. With each of the towns in both counties, we looked at the location of superfund sites,

brownfields, highways, etc, and their proximity to the lower and higher income communities.

As stated by the U.S. EPA superfund sites (CERCLA) is defined as

”Congress established the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and

Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980. CERCLA is informally called Superfund. It allows EPA to

clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either

perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work.”(EPA, 2018).

These sites can be under just CERCLA,​Comprehensive Environmental Response,

Compensation, and Liability Act, or it can on the CERCLA National Priority List (NPL) which

are sites that have broader requirements that CERCLA, and most have been recently

added/found.​ These sites have long lasting effects on not only the superfund location, but on the
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community surrounding it. Most of these superfund sites have been old factories, or dumping

grounds that the workers lived fairly close to their jobs. Historically, most of the jobs at these

locations were undesirable to most, and required tough working conditions to which those with

lower income and often times minorities.

This trend can be found not only at Superfund sites, but also Brownfields, TRI locations,

RCRA locations, and highways. The maps of Superfund sites in Atlantic and Monmouth

​ rownfields, defined by the EPA as

counties can be found in the appendix in ​Maps 7 and 8. B

”...​A property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by

the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.​” (EPA,

2018).

Another part of this objective was to look at the relationship between highway locations

and income and race. The maps of Brownfields locations in Monmouth County can be found in

​ ighways involve heavy traffic including automobiles, and tractor trailer

the appendix in ​Map 6. H

trucks that carry a vast amounts of contents that are sometimes involved with accidents.

Highways are also the location for people to litter, and with enough people discarding their litter

on these roads, it builds up. Maps for the highways in Monmouth and Atlantic county can be

​ he final part of this objective was to look at Toxic

found in the appendix in ​Maps 3 and 4. T

Release Inventory (TRI) locations. TRI is defined by the EPA as,

“...​tracks the management of certain toxic chemicals that may pose a threat to human

health and the environment. U.S. facilities in different industry sectors must report annually how

much of each chemical is released to the environment and/or managed through recycling, energy

recovery and treatment.​” (EPA, 2018).

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The maps of these sites in Atlantic county can be found in the appendix in ​Map 5.

For the second objective for this project was to compare income/race and air quality in

different towns in New Jersey. We compared all the parameters of air quality including carbon

dioxide, particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen, etc. However, we focused primarily on ozone for

this project.

Ozone is a gas found naturally in our atmosphere in the stratosphere. It is not natural in

the troposphere, where we are, and this is where ozone becomes a problem. Ozone is one

greenhouse gases that is having an influence on climate change. The sources of ozone can be

industrial emissions, chemical solvents, and gasoline vapors.

This gas also has very negative side effects on humans that are exposed to it. When

exposed to small amounts of ozone, it can cause coughing, throat irritation, shortness of breath,

and chest pain. Long term exposure of ozone could be permanent damage to lungs, development

of asthma, and compromising the immune system.

The final objective of this project was to look at air quality data from New York City,

New York from different major holidays in different seasons. We looked specifically at

particulate matter in this data due to it being a major city. We compared the air quality on

holidays such a New Year’s Eve to Labor Day in New York City.

We also compared the air in New York City to other major cities in the United States.

Due to the high population density of major cities like New York, that also means that there are

more sources for air pollutants. When holidays come around, there is a large increase in visitors

to the cities, which also makes the sources of air pollutants increase.
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Methods

Data for the environmental justice section was found using the EPA’s environmental

justice tool. The tool is able to pinpoint superfund locations, brownfield sites and brownfield

grants. It then gave demographic information such as minority population and low income

population within a chosen radius of the site (1 mile). Highways were then outlined and

information within a 1 mile radius was shown. Since there is a lot of data on toxic release

inventory, only data from 2017 was looked at. This data for 2017 is found in the EPA’s toxic

release inventory website. The addresses of toxic release were entered into the tool and again a 1

mile radius is looked at.

Data for connecting the demographic and socioeconomic status with air quality was

found through the Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool found on the EPA’s

website. The side-by-side maps option was used to create a map showing the distribution of

minority populations to the air quality in that region. The EJSCREEN mapping tool was used to

pick forty cities at random throughout New Jersey and an EJSCREEN report was obtained with

information in a 1 mile radius of that city. The information of percent minority population,

percent low income population, and NATA Air Toxics Cancer Risk were transferred into an

excel file for statistical treatment. The EJSCREEN report was also used to get individual data on

five cities regarding the percent low income population, percent minority population,

tropospheric ozone concentration, particulate matter 2.5 concentrations and NATA Air Toxics

Cancer Risk, which was then transferred to an excel file in order to be analyzed.
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Data for the New York City Air Quality was found using the New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation air monitoring website. There are historical records for each region

beginning in 2015. The type of of report, data range and other settings may be selected. The

different values were then compared to a air quality standard chart for New York specifically.

Usually, limits over the standard level is bad and focused on, but for particulate matter 2.5, the

limits below the standard is looked at because the smaller the particle the worse it is, which is

explained in more detail under the discussion section.

Results

Environmental Justice

Figures 1 and 2 focus on the brownfields grants in Atlantic county. The bar graph compares the

percentage of minorities, and percentage of low-income within a 1-miles radius of each grant. An

exception was made for the 13 grants in Atlantic City due to these sites being so close in

proximity. Instead of observing each site, a radius of 1.6 miles was observed that ecompasses

these 13 grants. The sites looked at are in Atlantic City, Pleasantville, and Hamilton. Atlantic

county has a total of 15 brownfields grants.

Figure 1 Figure 2
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Figures 3 and 4 display the data for the brownfield sites in atlantic county. It can be seen that

they nearly line up with the brownfield grants shown in figures 1 and 2. Again for the brownfield

sites in Atlantic City, a radius of 1.6 miles was observed that encompasses all 13 brownfield

sites. The only other site in Atlantic county, besides the 13 in Atlantic City, is in Absecon.

Figure 3 Figure 4

Figures 5 and 6 focus on the Brownfields sites in Monmouth county. There are 4 Brownfield

sites and all of them are located in Neptune City within a 1 mile radius of one another. Therefore

the minority percentage and low income percentage are very similar amongst each site.

Figure 5 Figure 6
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Figures 7 and 8 focus on the brownfields grants in Monmouth county. A 1-mile radius is looked

at for each site. The grants looked at are in Long Branch, Asbury Park, Neptune City, and Colts

Neck. There are only 4 brownfields grants in Monmouth county.

Figure 7 Figure 8

Figures 9 and 10 focus on the

Superfund sites in Atlantic County. A 1-mile radius is observed for each site. The currently

active Superfund sites in Atlantic County are the D’Imperio Property, Emmells Septic Landfill,

FAA Technical Center, Garden State Cleaners, Price Landfill, the South Jersey Clothing

Company, and Pomona Oaks. Delilah Road landfill and Mannheim Avenue landfill have since

been deleted from the NPL.

Figure 9 Figure 10
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Figures 11 and 12 focus on the Superfund sites in Monmouth county. A 1-mile radius is

observed at each site. The active Superfund sites in Monmouth county are Burnt Fly Bog,

Imperial Oil Co., Lone Pine, Monitor Devices Inc., Naval Weapons Station Earle, Waldick

Aerospace Devices Inc., White Swan Cleaners, Zschiegner Refining Company, and Bog Creek

Farm. There are 9 active Superfund sites in Monmouth county. The Friedman Property and M&T

Delisa Landfill have since been deleted from the NPL.

Figure 11 Figure 12

Figures 13 and 14 display the toxic release inventory for Atlantic County in 2017. The TRI data

displayed is from the EPA’s toxic release inventory dataset. Only 2017 data is looked at because

there would be over hundreds of locations to observe if all reported toxic release data is used.

Massarelli’s Lawn Ornaments released 1,347 pounds of styrene, SwimUSA Fiberglass pools

released 11,185 pounds of styrene, Viking Yacht Co. released 8,755 pounds of Styrene. A total

21,287 pounds of styrene were released in Atlantic county. American Galvanizing released 280
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pounds of zinc. A total 21,567 pounds of TRI were released in Atlantic county in 2017. These

are all on-site, fugitive, and point source air emissions.

Figure 13 Figure 14

Figures 14 and 15 display the toxic release inventory for Monmouth county in 2017. The TRI

data displayed is from the EPA’s toxic release inventory dataset. Only 2017 data is looked at

because there would be over hundreds of locations to observe if all reported toxic release data is

used. Nestle Inc released 3,315 pounds of ammonia, and 10 pounds of nitric acid. Preston

products released 32 pounds of certain glycol ethers, 138 pounds of ethylene glycol, and 820

pounds of methanol. Ralph Clayton & Sons released 1 pound of lead. Monmouth county released

a total of 4,316 pounds of TRI in 2017. These are all on-site, fugitive, and point source air

emissions.

Figure 14 Figure 15
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Figures 16 and 17 display the highways in Atlantic county. Only major, frequently traveled roads

were observed. A 1 mile radius is looked at from each road.

Figure 16 Figure 17

Figures 18 and 19 display the highways in Monmouth county. Again, only major roads were

observed. There are a lot of major roads in Monmouth county, likely due to its close proximity to

New York City. A 1 mile radius around each road is observed.

Figure 18 Figure 19
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To determine a correlation between low income populations or minority populations, the first

thing was to look at the population’s dispersion in relation to the air quality of the region. Figure

20 shows the air quality measured through NATA Air Toxics Cancer Risk shown on the left

compared to the distribution of minority populations as shown on the right.

Figure 20

Although there is a connection between minority populations and the air quality of a

region, a look at the air quality for individual cities and their minority and low income

populations is necessary. Forty cities were picked at random throughout New Jersey as shown in

figure 21. Information on the demographic, socioeconomic, and air quality within a 1 mile radius

of the city was tabulated and graphed to see if there was any connection. The percent of minority

populations and percent of low income populations compared to the quality of air in the city is

shown in figures 22 and 23. Data for the 40 cities is shown in the appendix.
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Figure 21 Figure 22 & 23

Figure 24

Five cities were picked from Southern New Jersey,

shown in figure 24, and the concentration of ozone,

particulate matter 2.5 and the

overall air quality determined with the NATA air

quality index was analyzed. Each air quality

measurement was taken within a 1 mile radius of the

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city. The data collected is summarized in table 1. The concentration of ozone, particulate matter

2.5 and the overall air quality was also graphed by increasing

percentage of minority populations shown in figure 25 and increasing percentage of low income

populations as shown in figure 26. A trend line was added to see if there was any correlation of

the individual air pollution components to demographics and socioeconomic status.

Table 1

Figure 25
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Figure 26

New York City Air quality

The Department of Environmental Conservation has over 50 station sites across the state of

New York that measure different air pollutants in real time. The criteria pollutants measured are

ozone, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, PM 2.5, and meteorological data. Air quality in cities

are often times worse than suburban areas due to all of the movement and action in a densely

populated area. Traffic and idling cars,factories spewing chemicals, and airplanes constantly

departing and arriving are just some of the major factors contributing to the bad air quality.

When focusing on New York City, particulate air pollutants fell below standard levels on the

big holiday New York City is known for. On New Years Eve 2017, particulate matter 2.5 levels

went below the standard of 12 micrograms/m^3 multiple times as the day went on. As
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particulate matter gets smaller it has more negative effects, so numbers below the average are the

ones looked at here. PM 2.5 is released from multiple sources such as cars, airplanes, and power

plants. Since New York City is a popular place to go for the holiday, thousands of people head

there at once, releasing large amounts of fossil fuels in a short amount of time (DEC 2018). July

fourth and Labor Day 2018 were other times when PM 2.5 pollution got pretty bad, getting as

low as 4.7 micrograms/m^3. When compared to the standard of 12 that is a big difference. Both

instances can bee seen in figures 27, 28, and 29 when they are compared to the chart of standard

levels.

Figure 27: December 31, 2017 (New Year’s Eve)

Figure 28: September 3, 2018 (Labor Day)

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Figure 29: July 4, 2018

New York air quality standards

According to the American Lung Association, the top ten most ozone polluted cities are

mostly all in California,eight out of ten, but New York City did make the list shown in figure 30

(ALA 2018).
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Figure 30: 2018 most ozone polluted cities (American Lung Association)

On the fourth of July 2018, ozone exceeded the standard level of .070 ppm, it reached

.072 ppm at noon, usually the time when the sun is the strongest. This can be seen when

comparing figure 3 to the chart of standard levels. Labor Day 2018 was another time when ozone

levels were close to being met. Ozone is an important chemical in the stratosphere that protects

earth from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Ground ozone is bad and can cause adverse health effects.

Ground ozone is formed when sunlight reacts with volatile organic compounds and nitrogen

oxides (DEC 2018). These chemicals are coming from man made sources such as gasoline

pumps, auto body shops, print shops, and chemical plants (EPA 2018). It was 90 degrees on

Labor Day 2018, meaning the suns rays were very strong and also many people were off from
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work, so there is more driving and overall use of things that use energy, therefore more

chemicals to react with the hot sun rays (Accuweather 2018).

Conclusions & Discussion

There appears to be a strong correlation between brownfields sites, minority population,

and low income population in Atlantic county. All sites have minority populations that are well

above the state average. This also appears to be the same for Monmouth county. In both counties

it seems that all of the brownfields sites are heavily concentrated in the same area, which

happens to be an area of a high minority percentage and a high low-income percentage.

Superfund sites in Atlantic County do not seem to have a correlation to minority population and

low-income population. There are sites with minority and low-income populations above the

state average, and there are also sites that are below the state average. The same holds true for

Monmouth county superfund sites. Toxic release inventory locations in Atlantic county have a

low-income population that is about average and a minority population that is about half of the

state average. In Monmouth county, toxic release inventory has a low-income and minority

populations that is average. Highways in Atlantic county have low-income and minority

populations that are average. Highways in Monmouth county seem to have low-income and

minority populations that are slightly below average.

A look at the minority population and air quality side by side shows that there is a

connection between the two. The areas of higher cancer risk from inhalation coincide with the

areas of denser minority populations, but this also is related to the population densities of the

cities compared to the more rural areas of New Jersey. In order to determine if there is a
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connection regardless of the proximity to major metropolitan areas, individual cities were

analyzed. Even when cities were analyzed individually based on their minority population and

air quality, there is a weak correlation between low income populations and minority populations

with a coefficient of determination of 0.136 and 0.395 respectively. Although the coefficient of

determinations for these two data sets are low, many other factors can contribute to the deviation

in a real world scenario. It clearly represents a connection between poverty, minority

populations, and air quality, and there is an obvious increasing trend line relating the three. Five

cities that are a good distance away from New York and Philadelphia were also analyzed to

mitigate the effects of population density on the results. The results also show the same

correlation. Ozone, particulate matter 2.5, and overall air quality was shown to increase with

increasing population. Although there were some cities that decreased in tropospheric ozone or

particulate matter if you look at two individual cities, the trend when looking at the five cities

together show an decrease in air quality as the minority and low income populations increase.

When is comes to air quality in New York City, residents are obviously directly effected,

but differently depending on age and state of health. Other factors that can play into how badly

someone can be affected are the specific locations they reside. Whether it may be on a heavily

populated main road, in a neighbor with less traffic flow, near the airport, or next to a

manufacturing company, the chemicals coming from these things are going to negatively affect

the ones close by constantly coming in contact with them. Not only do we have to worry about

humans health being affected by these chemicals, but the environmental effects are just as

concerning. It can affect water supply and ecosystems.

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PM 2.5 can cause serious health effects depending on the size of the particles. The

smaller the particle, the more dangerous it is because it is easier to breath in and get trapped in

lung tissue. These tiny particles are made up of microscopic solid or liquid droplets that can get

deep into lung cavities and even the bloodstream. Exposure can cause both lung and heart

problems such as premature death in people with heart or lung disease, nonfatal heart attacks,

aggravated asthma, and irregular heartbeat (EPA 2018). Environmental effects are another issue

because particles can be carried over long distances by wind and water and settle on ground or in

water far from the source. The different chemicals in the particles can cause adverse effects like

making bodies of water more acidic and depleting the nutrients in soils.

Ozone is harmful to humans and the environment. People breathing air containing ozone

who are most at risk are ones affected by asthma, children, older adults, and people who are

active outdoors or people who work outdoors. People with certain genetic characteristics and

reduced intake of nutrients like vitamin C and E can also be affected. Breathing in air containing

ozone can cause chest pain, coughing, throat irritation, and airway inflammation. It can worsen

bronchitis, asthma, and emphysema and also reduce lung function and tissue. This can all lead to

increased medical care (EPA 2018).

Effects to the environment are just as serious. Ozone effects sensitive ecosystems such as

parks and wildlife refugees. When leaves on plants are exposed to ozone it can reduce

photosynthesis, slow the plants growth, and increase the risk from disease, pests, pollutants and

weather.
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References

Accu Weather (2018) New York, NY month. Retrieved from

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/new-york-ny/10007/september-weather/349727

American Lung Organization (2018) State of the air: Most polluted cities then and now.

Retrieved from ​https://www.lung.org/about-us/blog/2018/04/sota-then-and-now.html

Department of Environmental Conservation (2018) National ambient air quality standards.

Retrieved from ​http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8542.html

Department of environmental Conservation (2018) New York State air monitoring site.

Retrieved from ​http://www.nyaqinow.net/

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) Ground level ozone basics. Retrieved from

https://www.epa.gov/ground-level-ozone-pollution/ground-level-ozone-basics

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) Health and environmental effects of particulate matter.

Retrieved from

ttps://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/health-and-environmental-effects-particulate-matter-pm

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) Indoor air quality (IAQ). Retrieved from

https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/ozone-generators-are-sold-air-cleaners

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) Learn about the toxic release inventory. Retrieved

from

https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/learn-about-toxics-release-inventory

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) Overview of EPA’s brownfields programs

https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/overview-epas-brownfields-program
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Environmental Protection Agency (2018) What is Ozone. Retrieved from

https://www.epa.gov/ozone-pollution-and-your-patients-health/what-ozone

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) What is superfund? Retrieved from

https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) Environmental Justice. Retrieved from

https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) Toxic release inventory. Retrieved from

https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program

Environmental Protection Agency (2018) EJSCREEN: Environmental Justice Screening and

Mapping Tool

https://www.epa.gov/ejscreen
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Appendix

​ he map below is a town map of Atlantic county, New Jersey.

Map 1:T
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​ he map below is a town map of Monmouth county, New Jersey.

Map 2:T
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​ he map below shows the highways in Atlantic county, New Jersey.

Map 3:T
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​ he map below shows thea highways in Monmouth county.

Map 4:T
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​ he map below shows the TRI Locations in Atlantic county, New Jersey.
Map 5: T
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​ he map below shows the brownfields in Monmouth county, New Jersey.

Map 6:T
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​ he map below shows the superfund sites In Atlantic county, New Jersey.
Map 7:T
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​ he map below shows the superfund sites in Monmouth county, New Jersey.
Map 8:T
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Map 9:​ This map shows a map of New York City, NY and the boroughs that are found in the

city.
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Figure 31: ​A table of towns in New Jersey with their low income population percent, minority

population percent, and the NATA air toxic cancer risk per MM.