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Coastal Watch details expanded air monitors; nonprofit asks county to back baseline health study
Summary
Presenters said San Patricio County’s monitoring network is expanding and warned EPA design values show the county out of attainment under a stricter PM2.5 standard; Coastal Watch and the Texas Health Institute asked the court to partner on a phased health study beginning next year.
Peyton Campbell, associate science coordinator for the Coastal Watch Association, told the San Patricio County Commissioners Court on Dec. 22 that the nonprofit’s air-monitoring network now includes nine community monitors (seven in San Patricio County) and that the group has purchased its first regulatory-grade monitor, scheduled to begin collecting data that afternoon. "As of right now... the TCEQ does not have any regulatory monitors in San Patricio County," Campbell said.
Campbell said the monitors measure ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, total volatile organic compounds and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). He told the court the EPA’s design values for PM2.5 were lowered from 12 to 9 micrograms per cubic meter in 2024, and that recent three-year averages put parts of the local air shed above that threshold. "EPA as of May is showing that we are out of that 9 attainment," Campbell said, citing readings of about 10.29 at one local site and 11.5 at another.
Patrick Nye, presenting for a partnership that includes Coastal Watch and the Texas Health Institute, asked the court to support a phased health study to link air-quality measurements with local health outcomes. Nye said phase 1—funded and intended to establish baseline data—would begin in January 2026; he said phase 2, which would include advanced modeling and quantification of health and economic burdens, is estimated at about $350,000. "We are here to promote health, safety, and quality of life in the communities," Nye said, urging the court to "join us" and help identify partners.
Both presenters stressed that the Coastal Watch monitors are non-regulatory community instruments and that the new regulatory-grade monitor will provide data that can be directly compared with EPA benchmarks. Campbell described the network’s ability to target volatile organic compound spikes with gas canisters for lab analysis when funding allows. Commissioners asked how nearby counties’ regulatory monitors factor into regional design values and sought clarification about the timeline for new monitors’ data to be included in federal attainment calculations.
