DEC to give air pollution levels update to residents of Hempstead, New Cassel, Roosevelt, Uniondale, Westbury

Residents of several "disadvantaged" Nassau County communities that are participating in the state’s Community Air Monitoring Initiative will receive an update next month on pollution levels in their neighborhoods.

The State Department of Environmental Conservation will host six virtual meetings in May for communities across the state, including on May 11 for residents of Hempstead, New Cassel, Roosevelt, Uniondale and Westbury.

The initiative, which started in September, is looking at 10 geographic areas statewide — including parts of Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan — and is part of the New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which seeks to reduce the state’s greenhouse gases 40% by 2030.

DEC officials are focusing on Hempstead and its surrounding communities, which have been found to have high pollution burdens from such sources as trucks, heavy traffic on parkways and industrial businesses.

The department identified what it called "disadvantaged communities" by 45 different levels of criteria, including low-income and minority communities and those in proximity to industrial sites that could lead to high pollutants.

The department contracted with a vendor that used a fleet of vehicles equipped with sensors to monitor air pollution on area streets, catching split-second air pollutant readings of greenhouse gases, black carbon soot and carbon monoxide and dioxide levels.

At its May meetings, DEC staff will provide a preliminary review of its second-quarter air monitoring results in each community while identifying strategies to reduce air pollution.

The information will include where the monitoring is being conducted and how the department will analyze the data to identify potential contributors of emissions for each pollutant being monitored. Department officials said they also would provide an update on efforts to establish community advisory committees that would engage with key stakeholders throughout the air monitoring initiative.

Staff from the department's Division of Air Resources and Office of Environmental Justice will be available to answer questions from the public.

Additional meetings are scheduled for this summer.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.