As COVID-19 continues to batter low income minorities in Chelsea and the nation at large, research points to a correlation between air pollution and the severity of the virus. Officials are now grappling with ways to mitigate both COVID cases and pollution in high risk areas, but are their solutions sufficient?
Chelsea is a city home to a diverse population, with more than half of its residents identifying as people of color. Due to historical redlining, Chelsea is one of many lower income, predominantly minority communities that is exposed to levels of air pollution far above the state average. During the era of redlining, hazardous projects were purposefully located in red zones. Though redlining is now illegal, many of the state’s less environmentally friendly projects are still located in these same areas. Chelsea is within miles of Logan Airport, the Mystic Power Plant, and various busy highways. Chelsea Creek is primarily to transport fuel to oil tanks, many of which are also located in Chelsea. With all of these projects emitting tons of hazardous pollutants, it’s no surprise that there is a particularly high prevalence of chronic respiratory and pulmonary disease in Chelsea.
The long term health effects of exposure to pollution have put Chelsea residents at a higher risk of succumbing to COVID-19. “COVID is causing death pretty much by attacking our lungs and our cardiovascular systems,” said Francesca Dominici in an interview with Boston Globe. Dominici is the lead author of a Harvard study which found that someone who lives in an area with high levels of pollution has an 8% greater chance of dying from COVID-19. “Any environmental factor that increases the susceptibility and makes your lungs more inflamed, clearly you’re going to get sicker.”
Massachusetts officials are making an effort to combat the public health crisis in high risk areas like Chelsea. Attorney General Maura Healey was recently in Chelsea passing out sanitary supplies, and the EPA committed to working with MassDEP to monitor pollution in Chelsea. Additionally, Governor Baker plans to add bus lanes in high risk areas to improve social distancing and reduce air pollution.
While these are useful short term solutions, more needs to be done to get to the root of the problem. “Buses should allow fewer people to drive cars. If the emissions are coming from residents of Chelsea, that would address that specific problem,” explains expert Jon Honea. “But if emissions are from commuters outside Chelsea, then the buses won’t do much good. You would also want the buses to not be diesel powered.” Officials did not mention whether the buses are diesel or battery powered.
If Massachusetts officials are serious about mitigating air pollution and respiratory illness in Chelsea, they need to start coming up with more efficient solutions that will not only target the pollution coming from individual residents, but also the pollution from state approved and funded projects.
Anna Brosnihan, Emerson College Journalism
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