Two new federal grants will fund air quality-related initiatives in Detroit. A $1 million grant will fund continuing environmental health assessment in the area surrounding the future Gordie Howe International Bridge (GHIB), and a $481,935 grant will establish a citywide air quality monitoring system. Both grants come through the Environmental Protection Agency.
The larger grant will support the second and third phases of a study of GHIB’s health impacts, respectively examining impacts during the bridge’s construction and operation phases. Results of the first phase of the study, covering GHIB’s pre-construction phase, were released in 2019.
The first phase involved two surveys of residents in the Delray neighborhood surrounding GHIB, who identified outdoor air as their top neighborhood concern in 2016 and one of their top five concerns in 2018. The study also analyzed health issues for residents and made recommendations to mitigate GHIB’s health impacts, including reducing idling, enacting stronger air quality standards, and increasing the use of clean fuels.
The study’s second phase will follow up with approximately 350 households interviewed in the first phase. The survey will examine residents’ perceptions of neighborhood changes since the bridge’s construction and changes in health issues. A third phase will follow, with final results from all three phases to be disseminated in 2027 or 2028. The survey will be conducted through next year, with results released by 2025.
The study’s results will inform ongoing advocacy, health programming and social services, according to Denise Fair Razo, chief public health officer for the Detroit Health Department, which is managing and administering the grant.
The smaller of the two grants will fund at least one particulate matter monitor for each city council district. The system will monitor particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less(PM10) and 2.5 micrometers or less (PM2.5).
Georgette Johnson, press secretary for the city’s Department of Public Works and Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department, said the city will develop a website where residents can track air quality data in “near real-time.” The city will also produce a citywide particulate matter assessment, including a full breakdown of levels by city council district and communities, by winter 2026.
The city is partnering with the nonprofit Green Door Initiative to conduct education and community outreach on the air quality monitoring system. Keith Kiama, the Green Door Initiative’s air quality program manager, says the nonprofit will schedule in-person and virtual informational sessions about the system across the city.
Kiama told Planet Detroit that the system would help develop a more thorough picture of the causes of air pollution in the city and provide valuable information for people to protect their health on poor air quality days. He noted that many Detroit residents have struggled with the effects of poor air quality for a long time.
“We can … provide some education and let the public know what is actually going on with air quality in the communities where residents live,” Kiama says. “We’re grateful for the opportunity and can’t wait to start this process.”