Since 2022, residents of St. James Parish, along the heavily industrialized banks of the Mississippi River known as “Cancer Alley,” have used low-cost monitors to measure air pollution.
But a new law in Louisiana makes it illegal to use that data to push for stricter pollution controls or enforcement.
The law requires people to instead buy expensive air-pollution monitors that meet strict Environmental Protection Agency standards, if they’re going to use the data to allege violations of clean air laws. People who don’t comply face penalties of thousands of dollars a day.
Now, community groups are fighting the law, saying in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday against Louisiana that it violates their constitutional right to free speech. The law enables polluting industries “to silence the science,” said Caitlion Hunter, director of research and policy at RISE St. James, which leads the air-monitoring efforts.
The Louisiana law was the first of its kind in the country when it went into effect last year. But Kentucky passed a similar law this year and West Virginia’s legislature debated a version in February, though it did not pass.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality declined to comment. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill did not respond to requests for comment.
Community air monitoring proliferated across the country under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which made $81 million in grants available for monitoring projects. That came as part of efforts by Congress to help protect communities of color and lower-income neighborhoods, like St. James Parish, which bear a disproportionate burden of industrial air pollution.
Low-cost monitors have been key to that effort, and have been endorsed, and in some cases even loaned or funded, by publicy funded programs.
St. James Parish used a brand of sensor called PurpleAir, which cost less than $300, to monitor for particulate matter, which are emitted from power plants, construction sites and industrial facilities and can trigger heart attacks and respiratory problems like asthma. The sensors were placed at the homes of people living near chemical facilities, Ms. Hunter said. The region also has some of the highest rates of cancer in the country.
Under the new Louisiana law, the group is no longer allowed to publicly discuss data or file complaints using information from PurpleAir sensors. The group says it would instead have to use government-approved particulate monitors that cost almost $60,000 each, beyond their financial reach.
RISE has been tracking spikes in fine particulate matter pollution. This kind of pollution also known as PM 2.5, is made up of solid particles less than 2.5 micrometers in size, which are small enough to enter the bloodstream when inhaled. PM 2.5 is the deadliest form of air pollution, leading to millions of premature deaths each year.
The group had intended to use the data to oppose a plastics plant proposed by Formosa Plastics Group, a Taiwanese plastics manufacturer, Ms. Hunter said. The data showed elevated levels of PM 2.5 in St. James Parish, where several petrochemicals plants already operate.
But using the PurpleAir data this way would likely be prohibited under the new law.
Industry groups that backed the law, known as the Community Air Monitoring Reliability Act, say it ensures data integrity.
The Louisiana Chemical Association said the standards didn’t stop anyone from tracking pollution levels, as long as the data didn’t trigger enforcement or penalties, or form the basis of a lawsuit.
“Air monitoring is a precise science, and decisions based on that data carry serious consequences,” said David Cresson, president and chief executive of the association, which represents Louisiana’s petrochemical industries. “The goal of this law is not to silence community voices, but to ensure that regulatory action is based on high-quality, validated science.”
PurpleAir didn’t respond to questions about the law and the accuracy of its product.
The law has sent “a chilling effect” through community groups, said Joy Banner, co-founder of The Descendants Project, an environmental group that supports people descended from slaves in Louisiana. The group recently paused plans to publicize more data from its air monitors, she said.
“We simply cannot afford $30,000-plus fines,” she said. “The law has been unfortunately very effective. It’s scaring us away from being able to share the data with our community members who need it the most.”
Peter DeCarlo, an air pollution scientist at Johns Hopkins University, said low-cost sensors like PurpleAir played a critical role in helping communities track air pollutants like PM 2.5, as well as other chemical emissions that aren’t tracked by regulators.
Even his own pollution data from cutting-edge mobile labs and sensors might be prohibited from public disclosure under the new law, he said.
Community monitors can be particularly important during accidents at nearby industrial plants and other sources, he said. “While they are not as accurate as regulatory monitors, they are able to provide real-time information to communities in the places they live and breathe,” he said.
Hiroko Tabuchi covers pollution and the environment for The Times. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years in Tokyo and New York.
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