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NJ Environmental Justice Law
This interactive mapping tool allows users to view the most up to date locations of New Jersey’s Overburdened Communities (OBCs). Watch this tutorial for info on using EJMAP. The EJMAP is part of New Jersey’s new Environmental Justice Law website.
For more information on how marginalized communities bear the brunt of this problem, check out:
What are the sources of particulate matter and ground-level ozone?
Some communities have a disproportionate quantity of sources of environmental pollution, including, but not limited to:
Concentration of stationary and mobile sources of air pollution
Contaminated sites
Waste transfer stations or other solid waste facilities
Recycling facilities
Water quality, water pollution from facilities, or combined sewer overflows; or
Conditions that may cause potential public health impacts, including, but not limited to, asthma, cancer, elevated blood lead levels, cardiovascular disease, and developmental problems.
Overburdened Communities in New Jersey are defined as:
Low-income: At lease 35% of households qualify as low-income households; or
Minority: at least 40% of the residents identify as minority or as members of a state recognized tribal community; or
Limited English proficiency: at lease 40% of the households have limited English proficiency
Particulate Matter
Poor air quality adversely affects human health, agriculture, and natural ecosystems. While forest fires can periodically contribute to poor air quality days, most of the dangerous particulate matter is manmade and year-round, particularly in cities. This problem disproportionally affects people of color. Nationwide, studies have shown repeatedly that marginalized, urban communities have lower air quality, particularly from ozone and PM2.5.
The term fine particles, or particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), refers to tiny particles or droplets in the air that are 2 ½ microns or less in width. The largest PM2.5 particles are about 30-times smaller than a human hair. The smaller particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.
Fine particles in the air (measured as PM2.5) are so small that they can travel deeply into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs, causing short-term health effects such as eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, and shortness of breath. Exposure can also affect heart and lung function, worsening medical conditions like heart disease and asthma, and increase the risk for heart attacks.
For more resources, check out:
Ground Level Ozone
Ozone is a gas composed of three atoms of oxygen. Ozone occurs both in the Earth's upper atmosphere and at ground level. Ozone can be good or bad, depending on where it is found.
Ozone at ground level is a harmful air pollutant, because of its effects on people and the environment, and it is the main ingredient in “smog." Learn more about air emission sources. The air quality problem in New Jersey communities is caused by ground-level ozone (GLO).
The other type of ozone is found in the stratosphere (upper atmosphere). It is called good ozone because it forms a protective layer that shields us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. This beneficial ozone has been partially destroyed by manmade chemicals, causing what is sometimes called a "hole in the ozone." The good news Stratospheric ozone does NOT affect air quality at ground level.
For more resources, check out:
...then design a solution to mitigate it.
...then design a solution to mitigate it.
Design a solution to the problem, based on science: There are several ways in which you can impact air quality in New Jersey...
a. Mitigation at the source-level
This involves identifying the origin/source of the particulate matter in the air and designing a solution to reduce them.
b. Mitigation at the ambient (outdoor) air-level
This involves reducing or eliminating the particulate matter and ground level ozone already polluting our air.
c. Mitigation through elimination of future sources
This involves finding alternative solutions to society's needs that do not produce particulate matter or ground level ozone in hopes of creating long term change.
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