Chester council reviews DEP plan to place five short‑term air monitors in city

The City of Chester Council discussed Resolution 25 on Feb. 10, 2025, a proposal to authorize the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to ‘‘install, maintain, operate, and remove air monitoring stations and associated equipment’’ at designated locations in Chester for an 18‑month period.

Council members and staff described the monitoring plan and the devices under consideration. A staff member said the city will host five monitoring sites at the locations requested: 12th & Chestnut, 12th & Wharton, 9th & Highland, 13th & Jeffrey and 7th & Lloyd. "They're called Purple Air Monitors. They're about the size of a fist, maybe a fist and a half," the staff member said, adding the devices measure particulate matter, plug into power, connect to Wi‑Fi and stream continuous readings to an online map that can be filtered for Chester.

Why it matters: council members and residents said localized particulate readings can reveal short‑term spikes tied to truck and train activity. A resident, Lisa Gaffney, said she has a PurpleAir monitor at home and has seen the public map show ‘‘severe’’ readings near the highway in her neighborhood; she said that personal data made the potential citywide monitoring appear valuable.

Staff and council clarified technical limits: the monitors the city discussed measure airborne particulate matter (PM) and will not detect gases or contaminants such as lead, formaldehyde or mercury. The staff member and others noted that readings tend to spike near diesel sources and trains and average out with changing wind conditions. The staff member said the monitoring network is "not the most robust of environmental sensors" but can provide continuous ambient PM data.

City staff also described operational issues to be resolved before deployment. The monitors rely on power and Wi‑Fi for continuous public reporting; staff said an exterior placement at city hall failed initial Wi‑Fi connectivity tests. Council asked for a photo or specification sheet; staff said they will try to supply a picture and to demonstrate the public web map at a Wednesday meeting.

The solicitor's read of the agenda named the resolution for final passage, but the transcript does not record a vote or the final outcome. The council’s next steps as recorded were to receive device details, review the monitoring web map and address Wi‑Fi and siting logistics for any publicly hosted devices.

Ending: Staff said DEP would place the monitors for an approximately 18‑month period and that the city would work with the vendor and DEP to finalize siting and connectivity. Any formal vote or final implementation schedule was not recorded in the meeting transcript.