PITTSBURGH — A local advocacy group has launched a new, real-time air monitoring website for communities impacted by air pollution from Shell’s massive petrochemical complex and other industrial sites in western Pennsylvania.
The website, launched by the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community (BCMAC), and dubbed Eyes on Air, includes data from five new air monitors the group placed in communities throughout Beaver County, which is home to the petrochemical complex Shell Polymers Monaca.
The Eyes on Air website also displays data from PurpleAir monitors put up by residents throughout Beaver County. The PurpleAir monitors continuously measure particulate matter pollution with the goal of providing real-time air quality information to residents throughout the county.
The project was paid for through a $5 million community fund created from a $10 million settlement between the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Shell after the company violated its air pollution permit and exceeded air quality standards.
A screenshot from the Eyes on Air website displays real-time air quality data from 6 new air monitoring sites for Beaver County (screenshot captured on 3/3/25) Via Eyes On Air
“The public having access to this data is important — people could bring information generated on [the Eyes on Air website] to their doctor’s offices to discuss any potential health impacts related to specific pollutants from industries in the region,” Ana Hoffman, director of the air quality program at Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab, which partners with community groups to develop citizen science initiatives, told EHN. (The CREATE Lab was not involved with the Eyes on Air project).
Beaver County is also home to other industrial polluters, including chemical and electronics manufacturing, and steel processing plants. Beaver County received a “C” grade for particulate matter pollution on the American Lung Association’s 2024 “State of the Air” report, which grades counties throughout the U.S. on various measures of air pollution that can impact lung health. That report also found that 13,579 adults and 3,149 children with asthma live in Beaver County, along with 10,588 people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 15,616 people with cardiovascular disease, all of whom face additional risk from exposure to air pollution.
Shell’s western Pennsylvania complex turns ethane from fracked gas into polyethylene nurdles, which are used to make many consumer products, including single-use plastic packaging and bags. Emissions from the plant include particulate matter pollution, volatile organic compounds like benzene and toluene, and a long list of other hazardous air pollutants.
Exposure to these types of emissions is linked to acute health problems like heart attacks, asthma exacerbation, and miscarriages. Longer-term problems include respiratory and heart disease, cancer, and brain, liver, and kidney issues.
A screenshot from the Eyes on Air website displays community air monitoring data in Beaver County (screenshot captured on 3/3/25)Via Eyes On Air
Eyes on Air aims to fill gaps left by existing air monitoring programs in the region, which include Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection air monitoring stations in Beaver Falls, Brighton Township, and Hookstown and fenceline monitoring at Shell’s industrial complex. Shell agreed to conduct fenceline air monitoring on its property for certain chemicals linked to health harms in 2017, as part of a lawsuit settlement with environmental advocacy groups. Data from these monitors is publicly available, but it isn’t provided in real time, according to Hoffman.
“The number one goal when communities do this kind of data collection work is to provide as close to real-time as possible air quality information to the public,” Hoffman said. “This data offers insights into what you can do hour to hour to protect your health, like when it’s safest to go for a run or let your kids play outside, or when to turn on an air filter at home.”
The new monitors are located in Beaver, Brighton Township, Center Township, Raccoon Township, and Rochester. In March, BCMAC plans to launch a mobile air monitor for targeted testing of hazardous pollutants like benzene and 1,3-butadiene, which are linked to cancer risk. Residents can sign up to host the monitor on their property for two weeks. BCMAC said the Eyes on Air project will continue to evolve in response to community feedback.
“Through focus groups, surveys, and social media discussions, residents shared what they needed in an air quality resource, and we built this platform together,” Hilary Starcher-O’Toole, executive director of BCMAC, said in a statement. “As someone born and raised in Beaver County, it’s been rewarding to co-create a tool that truly reflects the concerns and hopes of my neighbors.”
Editor’s note: The CREATE lab and EHN both receive funding from the Heinz Endowments.