Oak Creek Residents Self-Fund Power Plant Air Monitors

OAK CREEK, WI — The Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin says they're stepping up air quality monitoring outside the WE Energies coal-fire power plant that will provide air quality data real-time.

The coalition says that residents and like-minded people raised $2,000 for independent air monitoring through a GoFundMe campaign earlier this summer. The coalition says it used the funds to purchase the monitors and has distributed them to residents with homes in a variety of locations within a three-mile radius of the plants.

The Clean Power Coalition says that seven PurpleAir monitors will be deployed in the vicinity of the Oak Creek power plants. Officials say families who live near We Energies’ coal-fired Oak Creek power plants, some of whom have asthma and other respiratory illnesses, have been expressing concerns for years about exposure to coal dust.

Residents have continued to find new coal dust on their homes and properties throughout the spring and summer, and We Energies has yet to install the new air monitor they promised to residents back in the spring, officials say.

We Energies currently operates an air monitoring station southwest of the plant. Results from that monitor are aggregated and published only on a monthly basis. PurpleAir monitors will provide an independent, real-time source of air quality information in addition to We Energies’ self-monitoring. This data will be available online to the public through an interactive map on PurpleAir’s website as soon as the monitors are installed, officials say.

According to the Clean Power Coalition, organizers wrote a letter to We Energies requesting an additional air monitor be placed north of the plant and asking for results from both the new monitor and their existing monitor in Caledonia to be provided in real time.

Initially, We Energies refused this request, Clean Power reported, but later agreed to place a monitor north of the plant after repeated coal dustings in the area. However, they stated that they will not provide results from the existing monitor or the new monitor in real-time.

Related Reading
Win free Patch.com gear from us! Here's How
Stay up-to-date with with Patch! Sign up for Newsletters and E-Mail Alerts

Patch File Photo