By Will Atwater
Richie Harding, a 54-year-old resident of Northampton County, is surrounded by places that produce air pollution.
“A little over two miles south of me, there’s a wood pellet facility,” he said. “About a mile away, in the woods, there’s a hog CAFO. And Interstate 95 is about a quarter-mile east.”
Harding, who has for years used an inhaler for his asthma, says he and many of his neighbors live with chronic health conditions that could be linked to nearby sources of pollution. To raise awareness and push for change, he partnered with CleanAIRE NC, a statewide organization that trains residents to collect and share air quality data using low-cost PurpleAir monitors through its Community Science program.
Now, Harding, a trained “citizen scientist,” works with CleanAIRE NC to bring awareness to pollution levels in his community.
Last week, CleanAIRE NC launched a newAirKeeper Dashboard — an interactive mapping tool designed to help North Carolina communities track and understand local air pollution. The dashboard, which displays real-time data from sensors across the state, is part of the organization’s broader effort to position residents to advocate for cleaner, healthier air.
The dashboard is a community-driven tool developed with local “AirKeepers” to highlight pollution’s impact on vulnerable communities and provide access to environmental, health and demographic data, according to a news release.
“Through the AirKeeper Dashboard, community members can examine air quality, investigate pollution concerns, share their findings through maps and reports, and continue to build the case for positive change,”said Z Strawderman, the organization’s environmental justice manager.
The launch comes as federal air quality protections face new threats. In May, Congress advanced a measure to roll back industrial pollution rules, followed by a June 11 announcement from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to repeal carbon emissions limits for power plants and weaken mercury standards.
Advocates warn that the changes could worsen pollution and harm already vulnerable communities.
Local concerns, national problem
The air quality issues in Northampton highlight a broader pattern affecting communities across the country.
In the U.S., 46 percent of the population (or 156 million people) is “breathing unhealthy air,” according to a 2025 report by the American Lung Association. Exposure to ozone and short-and long-term particle pollution can lead to adverse health effects like asthma and heart attacks, along with lung cancer, according to the report.
The report states that 77.2 million people live in counties that experience unhealthy spikes in particle pollution — a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in the air. Another 85 million are exposed to unhealthy particle pollution levels year round.
In North Carolina, the state’s Department of Environmental Quality says the two most significant air quality challenges are ground-level ozone and particle pollution. The primary sources of these pollutants are automobile emissions and coal-burning power plants.
Despite that, citing better emissions control technology in gas-powered engines and the growing number of electric vehicles, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a 2023 biennial budget (House Bill 259) that cut the number of counties requiring automobile emissions inspections from 19 to just one — Mecklenburg County. The state is awaiting a ruling from the EPA on its revised Inspection & Maintenance State Implementation Plan, according to the DAQ website.
Bridging a gap?
While improvements in air quality and in vehicle emissions controls have prompted calls to scale back state oversight, critics warn that the move is shortsighted and could jeopardize public health.
In addition to health concerns raised by environmental advocates, limiting emissions inspections to a single county would significantly reduce revenue for the North Carolina Department of Air Quality.
At the June 4 state Senate Agriculture, Energy and Environment Committee meeting, NC DEQ Secretary D. Reid Wilson said the change would reduce DAQ’s budget by roughly 15 percent. To offset the shortfall, Gov. Josh Stein’s proposed state budget includes a 27-cent increase in the base fee for automobile safety inspections — a measure aimed at preserving the department’s capacity to protect air quality, according to information provided by a DAQ spokesperson.
Amid these funding uncertainties, CleanAIRE NC is working to equip residents with tools to monitor pollution in their own communities.“North Carolina has [roughly] 23 monitoring stations across the state — but we have 100 counties,” said Andrew Whelan, CleanAIRE NC’s communications manager. “If you’re checking your air quality on the federal AirNow website, but the monitor feeding that data is in a different county, it’s not really giving you useful information.
“That’s the role of the AirKeeper network — our team of community scientists,” Whelan continued. “They help fill in those gaps and provide hyperlocal, real-time data so everyone can understand what’s in the air they’re breathing — today, right now, where they are.”
Whelan noted that the AirKeeper Dashboard combines hyperlocal air quality readings with geographic and community context. It helps users identify pollution sources, track historical trends and view sensitive locations — such as schools or daycare centers — that are in areas with poor air quality. The platform offers a comprehensive, real-time snapshot of what’s in the air and why it matters.
A role for PurpleAir monitors
Low-cost air sensors like PurpleAir may lack the precision of DEQ’s regulatory-grade monitors, but they play a valuable role in filling spatial and temporal gaps in the state’s official monitoring network, said Shawn Taylor, public information officer for the Division of Air Quality.
“It is important to remember the distinction between low-cost sensors and regulatory air monitors, and the difference in the data and how that data should be used,” he said. “Due to the current limitations of sensor technologies and the varying levels of data quality from sensors, their data cannot be verified, validated or integrated into DAQ’s regulatory data.”
Still, efforts are underway to improve accuracy.
“Work has been ongoing in the air quality community, led by the EPA, to create bias correction algorithms that could calibrate raw PurpleAir sensor measurements,” Taylor said. “The goal has been to more closely align PurpleAir measurements, which have significant known biases, to the more accurate (and much more expensive) regulatory monitors that state and local air quality agencies operate nationwide. Thus far, the results have been promising, but not perfect.”
CleanAIRE NC’s Whelan acknowledged those limitations but emphasized PurpleAir’s broader significance.
“It’s true that the PurpleAir sensors have known limitations and require correction algorithms to align with federal-grade monitors,” Whelan said. “However, these are high-quality and reliable air monitors. They are also much more affordable than federal-grade monitors, supporting significantly greater geographic coverage, data justice and community ownership of information — which are essential for creating transparency and trust.”
“We view these tools not as a substitute but as a necessary complement to regulatory networks, particularly in underserved or vulnerable areas.”
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