LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — This Hispanic Heritage Month, Channel 13's Anjali Patel explores how environmental issues can disproportionately impact the valley's large Latino population.
Buen Aire Para Todos, or Clean Air for All, is working to advance environmental justice with a focus on east Las Vegas, an area where the population is approximately 65% Latino. The program, led by Impact NV, with the help of Make the Road Nevada, the City of Las Vegas, the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, and the Desert Research Institute, is closely examining air quality in the east valley through a new monitoring program.
"East Las Vegas has a couple of characteristics that make it more vulnerable to air quality issues. One is it is the center of most of the urban heat islands in the city. So, it has less vegetation, less tree cover, and tends to be more exposed. So heat interacts with air pollution in ways that are detrimental to human health, particularly with the cardiovascular system, stressing it around the same time. Also, those populations are more vulnerable because they may have less efficient HVAC systems in their homes, they may not have as good air quality in the workplaces, and they might be doing outdoor activities as well," said Derek Kauneckis, an associate research professor for the DRI.
Kauneckis said there are a variety of reasons why brown and black communities are often disproportionately impacted by environmental issues. Efforts to remedy those inequities are commonly referred to as environmental justice.
"This can be due to historic under-investment in communities. Sometimes, this goes back to historic aspects such as redlining. This is also due to the dynamics of the market. Places that tend to have lower priced housing tend to be in places that have less environmental amenities," Kauneckis said.
The program has distributed PurpleAir air quality sensors to participating residents in east Las Vegas, providing them with a way to monitor their air quality in real time. The sensors contain a small laser that measures the amount of particulate matter in the surrounding environment. Kauneckis said it's all about empowering people with hyper-local information and advancing equity.
The sensors, which typically cost a few hundred dollars, were purchased through an Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, and participants are even provided with a small stipend to remove barriers to participation.
"We had enormous interest. They haven't really seen this kind of community-facing science really focusing on the Latinx community. I think we had 60 community members for a pretty impromptu event show up. We exceeded our waiting list for the sensors by about double. We have two times as many people who want to have air quality sensors around their house than we have funding to provide them for," Kauneckis said.
"What does that tell you when you have that much interest in a program like this?" I asked.
"I think it says that communities are interested in taking control of the data and understanding better their own exposure. They're aware of the problem, but they're not aware of what to do about it," Kauneckis replied.
Kauneckis said they want to help citizens understand what they can do about air quality issues in their homes. The program even offers participants AC filters if needed to help improve the efficiency of their HVAC systems.
Jeremy Winchester is participating in the program. An east Las Vegas native, Winchester has lived all over the valley, but he's found his way back to his roots, now living on the far eastern edge of the valley.
"After living here predominantly for the first 18 years of my life, this side of town has just always felt like home to me," Winchester said.
He said he's noticed a stark difference in air quality, though, when he compares east Las Vegas to other parts of the valley.
"I love the fact that I did move back here to east Las Vegas, but the air quality, the coolness, the crispness, it's noticeably different when you go to Henderson, when you go to Summerlin," Winchester said.
He said the air quality sensor he received through this program, now placed in his living room, helps him understand his respiratory issues better, providing reassurance on days when breathing may not be so easy. The air quality sensors change color, ranging from a bright green to a bright red, based on the air quality of the surrounding environment.
"It is funny because, on days that I do have issues, I do notice that it is a little bit lighter shade of green. So it's a good tool, it's a good indicator, 'Okay, something's going on, something's in the air. It's not just me,'" Winchester said.
Through the program, air quality sensors have also been distributed to food truck vendors to help monitor how the air quality they're exposed to changes as they move throughout the area. Additionally, air quality sensors have been placed strategically throughout the east side of town in busy public areas, like schools, the library, and the Martinez Hall Family Pool at Freedom Park.
Assemblywoman Erica Mosca said she's heard concerns from people in her district about air quality. She represents Assembly District 14, which includes a good chunk of the east valley.
"We know east Las Vegas is one of the most diverse communities in our whole valley, and when things like inequitable access to trees, to high-quality air impact our community, that's actually impacting the people we know make our community work," Assemblywoman Mosca said.
She's waiting with bated breath to see the data gathered from Buen Aire Para Todos and hopes to use it to spur legislative change to help her constituents.
"We are really looking forward to reading these results so we can show the qualitative info that we already know living in this community, backward map to some quantitative data so that we can make change," Assemblywoman Mosca said.
It's all a breath of fresh air for Jeremy Winchester, who hopes this program will help make east Las Vegas an even better place to live.
"It's one thing to look at something on TV and see that something's being done and being a couch cheerleader, and it's something else entirely to actually be a part of it and know that your results could lead to something huge," Winchester said. "It's a really good feeling to know that I'm doing something that could contribute to the future generations and to the overall air quality of east Las Vegas."
