Harris County Judge, pollution control department introduce mobile air quality monitoring unit

Standing outside of the East Harris County Community Center, located at 7340 Spencer Highway, Pasadena, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and the Harris County Pollution Control Services and Department on Nov. 4 announced a new mobile unit that will be used to monitor the air quality all across Harris County.

The county’s bus called the Rapid Ambient Air Monitoring—or RAAM—unit is decked out with instruments both on the outside of the vehicle and inside. With environment data-collecting tools, monitors, its own generator and even a drone, the RAAM can monitor weather and an array of air pollutants within just minutes, providing near real time data, Hidalgo said.

“The RAAM is our Rapid Ambient Air Monitoring unit that will fully illustrate using technology to advance science,” said Latrice Babin, Harris County Pollution Control executive director . “A few of our immediate goals with the RAAM is to strategically put in our routes to establish a robust baseline data, and we will use that to create heat maps and databases.”

The decision-making tools will help Harris County Pollution Control inform and enhance their responses to air quality across the county, Babin said. The county plans to conduct case studies of specific neighborhoods to take a look at residents' exposures of toxins and hazards, she added.

“Harris County Pollution Control is dedicated to doing our part to pursue environmental justice for communities that have been marginalized and left out of critical conversations for far too long,” Babin said. “The RAAM is going to be out in every community in Harris County, especially communities of color.”

Harris County hopes the RAAM can help achieve three main goals: monitoring air quality and other environmental factors; finding companies releasing unauthorized emissions; and disclosing more information about air and environmental quality with the public, Hidalgo said.

“The RAAM is an invaluable tool for pollution control in the community,” said Mike Lykes, Harris County Precinct 2 chief of staff. “With this unit, the county will be able to deploy into neighborhoods and finally shed light on what we are breathing. Armed with this information, we can work with the community to identify areas of concern and work to make our air cleaner and our communities safer.”