After cement plant pollution battle, Midlothian paves way for air monitoring network
As they prepared to present at a city council meeting on May 11, members of Midlothian Breathe weren’t sure what to expect. It wasn’t the first time the activist group addressed city leaders about air quality issues in the unofficial “cement capital of Texas,” home to three major cement manufacturers and ongoing controversies over the pollution they produce.
This time, though, the group had a gift for the council: a low-cost air quality sensor that can measure particulate matter pollution and send data to an online map in real time. Laura Hunt, a leader of Midlothian Breathe, asked city leaders to install the PurpleAir monitor at a public park as a show of support for expanded air monitoring in the rapidly growing town of 30,000.
“Given how Midlothian’s cement plants dominate our landscape, we believe a strong local monitoring network is something our city particularly needs to compete with other suburbs that don’t have the constant physical presence of these pollution sources,” Hunt told city council members.
To the surprise of activists, Midlothian officials acted quickly to install the monitor at Kimmel Park, a popular gathering spot not far from City Hall. Within 72 hours of the meeting, the monitor was up and running.
“I am very encouraged because there’s been deaf ears turned to this for so long,” said Jane Voisard, a Midlothian Breathe volunteer who spoke at the May council meeting. “I was really pleased to hear that the city was listening to all of its residents and not just a portion … It made me proud to be part of Midlothian to see that they did this.”
Assistant City Manager Clyde Melick said officials are not taking sides in the pollution debate, and Midlothian staff were simply facilitating a request from residents to place the monitor in a public park. Midlothian won’t monitor the data generated from the PurpleAir device, though residents can view that information at any time online, he said.
“They’re all our citizens, and we try to treat all taxpayers the same and just be fair and consistent with all of them,” Melick said. “We try to be amenable to all the requests and do our best to make sure that we can facilitate any information they want.”
Hunt and Voisard hope the installation of the air monitor on city property signals a new chapter in how Midlothian leaders handle concerns about pollution in Ellis County.
Back in the early months of 2020, Midlothian leaders declined to meet with residents about how cement manufacturer Holcim’s bid to increase carbon monoxide emissions might affect public health and the environment. The company was named the No. 1 polluter in North Texas in a recent report by Paul Quinn College.
Despite local opposition, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality approved Holcim’s permit application in April without granting any further hearings to residents who live near the plant. In a statement last month, spokeswoman Jocelyn Gerst said Holcim is committed to protecting public health in the Midlothian community, where it has been located for more than 30 years.
“Our team has worked diligently to develop an application that meets federal and Texas air quality standards as we support the construction of critical infrastructure for communities, as well as home and commercial construction that promotes local and regional economic growth,” Gerst wrote in an email.
While Midlothian Breathe was formed in response to Holcim’s application, members are determined to “not let it die” through forming a network of at least 22 low-cost air monitors placed strategically throughout the area, according to Voisard. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality currently maintains one official, more sophisticated monitor in the Midlothian area, which Hunt and other activists have criticized for its placement upwind from cement plants and lack of accessible data.
Texans for Responsible Aggregate Mining, an activist coalition formed in September, donated several monitors to Midlothian Breathe, and other donors have chipped in to buy more small devices, which come in at about $300 each. SharedAirDFW, an air monitoring initiative launched last year by researchers at UT-Dallas and the activist group Downwinders at Risk, has plans to bring another 10 PurpleAirs to Midlothian.
Still, Midlothian Breathe needs about nine more to meet its goal and finish building out a grid of monitors, designed by a engineer affiliated with the aggregate mining coalition. Alongside other organizers, Voisard is in the midst of recruiting residents interested in hosting PurpleAir devices near their homes.
“Once we have sensors up throughout the town, it’ll tell you what is happening in your neighborhood at any time, day or night,” Voisard said. “With this reliable, more affordable technology available, we are also going to be able to collect data that is recognized as valid by the EPA. That means we can very scientifically help ensure air quality standards are met.”
Midlothian Breathe’s ideas don’t stop there. With the help of a retired teacher, Voisard wants to develop a science curriculum for students to learn more about air quality issues. She also hopes to convince the school district and businesses like Google — which has a data center in Midlothian — to place sensors on their properties.
At the May city council meeting, she asked members to restart Holcim’s community advisory board, which has lain dormant for several years. The city can also do more to raise awareness by including the PurpleAir network on its website, Voisard said
She moved to Midlothian more than a decade ago after learning that air quality had improved due to battles over industrial permits in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, Voisard said, she is fighting to keep it that way.
“In re-establishing this network, at least we’ve got some safeguards and we’re not just taking Holcim’s claims at face value,” Voisard said. “We’re not taking for granted that our best interests as citizens are being considered when it comes to industry.”
