The Detroit Health Department is proud to be working with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and community partners Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition to Monitor Air Quality

2018

Gordie Howe International Bridge: Air Monitoring

In a joint Canadian-American venture, the Gordie Howe Bridge began construction on October 5, 2018. The bridge will link Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. Construction will include land acquisition, demolition of existing buildings, as well as bridge and roadway construction. Communities in the construction area are concerned that demolition, construction and vehicular traffic that will use the bridge may cause an increase in the level of air pollution.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) worked with the City of Detroit and the Southwest Community Benefits Coalition to install 3 additional air monitoring stations in the Delray neighborhood area to ascertain air pollution levels in the community. Several pollutants will be measured, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulates, lead, and black carbon (a component of diesel exhaust) as well as routine meteorological parameters such as wind speed, wind direction and temperature. Air monitoring will continue during as well as for several years after the bridge is completed and open. This continued air monitoring will help to better understand the role that traffic plays in air quality.

Data from the monitors will be collected and the results will be compared against the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and other health protective benchmarks. Much of the data will be reported in near real-time on the MDEQ’s DEQ MIAir website. MDEQ and partners in the Detroit Health Department will evaluate the data to determine if there is a potential for adverse effects to public health. You can sign up to get alerts about this monitoring activity by going to http://miair.enviroflash.info/ and subscribing to EnviroFlash.

Information on bridge construction can be found on the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority website.

If you have questions, please contact Jenifer Dixon at 517.284.6892 or [email protected].

 

SW Detroit Air Monitor Map