Five oil refineries, each emitting millions of tons of air toxins every year, cast an invisible cloud over the northern parts of the San Francisco Bay area. People living near the refineries and other petrochemical facilities want to be able to understand and communicate about the impact of pollution on their communities. There is thus a great need for accessible visualizations of air pollution, particularly ones that can show the cumulative impact of multiple polluters spread across the region. This project will combine air emissions and air monitoring data with meteorological data, especially wind speed and direction, to create maps that show the size and shape of refineries’ pollution “footprint.” Census data will additionally be used to map the concentrations of “sensitive receptors”–namely, the very young and the very old–living and learning within the pollution footprint.
Data from fenceline and community air monitoring stations at 2 area refineries (Chevron in Richmond and Phillips 66 in Rodeo), obtained from fenceline.org. These include meteorological data.
We are looking for maps of the North Bay that visualize the amount and reach of air emissions for several pollutants of concern (e.g. particulates, SO2, benzene). Each map will overlay pollution information on a visual representation of sensitive receptor populations.
Because these are time series data, we would hope that the visualizations created would not only represent moments in or periods of time, but also be dynamic.
We would expect the creation of the maps to generate statistics such as the land area affected by pollution from one refinery, area affected by two or more petrochemical facilities, number of people living within the area affected by each refinery (or combination of facilities), number of elderly residents living within the affected area, number of school children being educated in the affected area.
The maps and reports will be used to raise awareness of the impact of petrochemical pollution in the Bay area, through presentations to community interest groups, hospitals and health non-profits, and other civic organizations. They will also be presented to regulatory agencies, city councils, and other policy-makers as part of advocacy for health-protective policies and regulations. Finally, the maps and reports will be used as a model for visualizing and making sense of complex air emissions and monitoring information in other areas affected by air pollution.
Note: The proposed project is part of “Meaning from Monitoring,” a collaboration between the Fair Tech Collective, Crockett-Rodeo United to Defend the Earth, Good Neighbor Steering Committee (Benicia), Benician
The Summer 2020 session has finished. Sign up for notifications about future opportunities.
