New grants could help overburdened communities in Washington clean up the air

A very small group gathered in Yakima last week to give feedback on a big issue: poor air quality. New statewide grants are helping people find ways to improve the air in their communities.

Three people sat down at long wooden library tables in Yakima’s Eisenhower High School. They brainstormed ideas about how to improve the area’s air quality. 

“ It could be something like an agricultural project where trying to eliminate dust from a farming practice, and the money’s made available to a rancher who wants to do a pilot project. It could be planting an in-between crop instead of plowing a dusty field,” said Mike Bahr, with Community System Solutions. 

The California-based nonprofit is planning projects to improve air quality in Yakima and Ellensburg.

To gauge people’s concerns, Community System Solutions is asking people in both cities to complete surveys, available in English and Spanish. Questions ask people to rate the overall air quality in the area to identify potential sources of poor air quality they’d like to see addressed.

“Funds will be spent in town on projects that directly affect the community on an air quality level, but also on an economic level, providing jobs and training and things whenever we can,” Coday Anthony, who’s with Community System Solutions, said. 

This was the third community meeting Community System Solutions held in East Yakima. They plan on at least one more. The nonprofit has also tabled at local events.

Three people attended a community workshop in East Yakima last week to discuss potential solutions for air pollution in the area. Attendees placed stickers on a poster to highlight their air quality concerns. (Credit: Courtney Flatt / NWPB)

As an interactive way to better define air quality concerns, people at the meeting placed stickers on a poster next to what they thought caused the biggest problems.

“I did animal feedlots. Wildfires, also,” said Judy  Strosahl, who lives outside Yakima.

As one of the few attendees on Tuesday, Strosahl also raised concerns about climate change and the Rocky Top Environmental landfill, formerly known as the DTG landfill. Strosahl suggested ways to plant more trees in the area.

A census tract on the eastern edge of Yakima and much of Union Gap has been plagued by poor air quality, socioeconomic and environmental justice issues. That’s led to higher rates of asthma and cardiovascular disease.

The state Department of Ecology identified 16 areas across Washington that are overburdened and highly impacted with air quality issues, from Tacoma to Spokane. 

Leaders hope $10 million will get projects off the ground. Grantees were awarded a maximum of $700,000 and have up to two years to complete their work, according to the department. 

Right now, there are 21 projects, all of which work differently in each community, said  Kaitlyn Kelly, the improving air quality in overburdened communities grant unit supervisor for Ecology.

The grants are a new way for the department to help these areas, Kelly said, along with community buy-in.

“ When you’re working on environmental justice and environmental disparities, it’s really important to have the community involved in the whole process,” she said. “It empowers them to create that change in the community.”

The grants are funded by the state’s Climate Commitment Act.

Having community involvement is a change in the project organizers said they hoped would be welcomed.

“If you have lungs, air quality, air pollution should matter to you. This is your community, your lungs, your family members. We want to know what you want us to do,” Anthony said. 

Kelly said she hopes these community-led projects and grants are a new way forward to deal with pollution issues. The Department of Ecology is planning to further study the health impacts in overburdened communities that are highly affected by air pollution.