DETROIT – If you’re concerned about air quality in any part or Wayne County where you live, work or play -- you can now quickly find out what you and your family are breathing.
Wayne County officials announced its brand-new network of air quality monitors Wednesday, May 8. It’s the latest and largest project to monitor air quality in Metro Detroit to date.
Wayne County residents have complained about dirty air for years. County officials claim there are now 100 air quality monitors up and running in every Wayne County community. Officials said it’s the first step in fixing a big problem -- the most polluted air in the state.
“The number of kids in our communities that have asthma is unnaturally high,” said Wayne County Executive Warren Evans.
The 100 air quality monitors give real-time local data about what is being breathed in Wayne County.
“We don’t want it to be a secret, we want everybody to know what’s in the air,” Evans said.
The company maintaining the network of monitors is JustAir, an innovator based in Detroit. On the company’s website JustAir.app -- you can see real-time air quality data collected in several cities
Evans said it’s the first step in going after polluters and fixing the problem.
“I’m not against industry. Industry is important, but industry should never have the right to pollute the air,” Evans said.
After examining air quality in 204 U.S. cities, the American Lung Association released a report in April that gave Metro Detroit a grade of F for air quality. They said Wayne County is especially bad for particulate pollution.
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