Air Quality Alerts
Get alerts from the EPA's Airnow website when air quality may be especially poor in Camden to your email at the following website, click here.
Airnow smartphone applications are also available for Apple and Android.
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New Jersey Department of Environmental Protect Air Quality HomepageVisit this site to look up real time data on air quality in Camden, read past annual reports on air quality in New Jersey, and learn what types of air pollution the DEP monitors.
Additional EPA Resources
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EnviroFactsEnvirofacts is a database of environmental data being made available to the public by the U.S. EPA. Included in this database are data drawn from the following major EPA program systems: The Aerometric Information and Retrieval System/AIRS Facility Subsystem (AIRS/AFS); the Permit Compliance System (PCS); the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Information System (CERCLIS); the Toxic Release Inventory System (TRIS); and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Information System (RCRIS).
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EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO)Use EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online website to search for facilities in your community to assess their compliance with environmental regulations.
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EPA's MyEnvironmentThe MyEnvironment search application is designed to provide a cross-section of environmental information based on your local zip code.
Workshop recording
Sign up for a free online community health workshop. View the workshop recording below:.
Instructors: Benjamin Saracco and Kate Cruz’s Workshop
Saracco: Associate Professor @ Rowan University Libraries
Cruz: Environmental Justice Coordinator for the Center for Environmental Transformation
56:08 video duration, 30-slide long slideshow
Description
This workshop focused on environmental injustice, highlighting how marginalized communities, such as Camden’s Waterfront South, disproportionately face pollution due to systemic environmental racism. Participants were introduced to tools and resources for self-education and advocacy.
Key Takeaways
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Environmental Racism: Communities of color face higher exposure to pollution—such as toxic waste, nitrogen dioxide, and lack of clean water—due to systemic inequality.
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Cumulative Impact: This refers to compounded environmental and health risks, intensified by factors like poverty and existing health conditions. Camden’s Waterfront South exemplifies this with 24 polluting facilities in under a square mile, emitting 35 toxins.
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Effects: Environmental injustice harms physical and mental health, food and water access, and community well-being.
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Action Steps: Combat injustice by joining local groups (e.g., NAACP, Camden Collaborative Initiative), contacting public officials, or reporting concerns to the DEP or EPA.
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Tools: Websites such as DEP Dataminer (slide 14), EPA EJSCREEN, EnviroMapper, and the Community Corner App help monitor local environmental conditions. Tutorials were included in the workshop.
How to Report Environmental Emergencies or Concerns
Call this 24-hour hotline to report environmental incidents, abuses, complaints, and concerns in New Jersey.
What you should report?:
- Odors
- Spills
- Dust
- Dumping
- Idling
- Fumes
- Visible air pollution of any kind
Or Download this smartphone app!
The app will record your exact location as part of the report. Take photos of the problem! Upload them to the app!!!
The following document describes the investigative process the NJ DEP uses in response to odor complaints.
Learn more about past environmental complaints in your neighborhood.
Anytime an individual makes a complaint to 1877WARNDEP whether via their phone OR the corresponding smartphone applications the report is entered into the public DEP DataMiner website: https://www13.state.
One can search this website for environmental complaints a number of ways, including site, date, location and category.
If you choose "Search by Category"-> Report Category "Incidents and Complaints" ->"Incidents by County Municipality and Date", you can then limit to Camden City and then choose a timeframe to view all of the WarnDEP reports made over a period of time. This information can be exported in PDF or Excel format.
- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Air Enforcement Office
- C&E inspectors perform more than 24,000 inspections and compliance evaluations per year and issue approximately 6,000 enforcement actions. Inspectors also respond and investigate citizen complaints and other environmental matters referred to the DEP by county, state and federal agencies as well as local officials. Often, these investigations lead us to finding and fixing environmental problems that would have otherwise remained unnoticed. In years past, C&E responded to more than 5,000 incidents and investigated more than 2,700 complaints.
- Website: https://www.nj.gov/dep/enforcement/dahme.html
- Contact information: https://www.nj.gov/dep/enforcement/dahme.html
- County Health Officer
- Paschal Nwako, PhD, MPH is the County Health Officer/Public Health Coordinator. He is responsible for 37 municipalities in Camden County in promoting a healthy community, preventing/controlling communicable and non-communicable diseases, and protecting against environmental hazards.
- Website: https://www.camdencounty.com/service/health-human-services/county-health-officer/
- Contact information: For emergencies call 911. For more information about services offered by the Dept. of Health and Human Services, call (856) 374-6248. For a public health or an environmental health emergency, the County Health Officer is available 24/7 at (856) 783-1333.
What is Environmental Racism?
What is Environmental Justice?
Environmental Justice is the work being done to end environmental racism. It is about YOU: your body, your health, your mind, your home, your community, and your well being. When any of these spaces are negatively impacted by the environment around you - particular by pollution
Visit CFET's website to learn more about some of the work being done to end environmental racism in Camden.
EJSCREEN: How does the air quality in my neighborhood compare to other neighborhoods?
In order to better meet the Agency’s responsibilities related to the protection of public health and the environment, EPA has developed a new environmental justice (EJ) mapping and screening tool called EJSCREEN. It is based on nationally consistent data and an approach that combines environmental and demographic indicators in maps and reports.
https://screening-tools.com/climate-economic-justice-screening-tool
Enviromapper: what facilities are in my neighborhood?
A single point of access to select US EPA environmental data. This website provides access to several EPA databases to provide you with information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. With Envirofacts, you can learn more about these environmental activities in your area or you can generate maps of environmental information. https://enviro.epa.gov/enviro/em4ef.home
NJDEP Community Corner Map: Are polluting industries are following their air quality permits?
This map shows every facility with an air permit registered with the Division of Air Quality at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=76194937cbbe46b1ab9a9ec37c7d709b
Environmental Justice in New Jersey and Camden
- New Cumulative Impact Environmental Justice Bill passed in NJ: https://www.nj.gov/dep/ej/policy.html
- Want to learn about new or renewed air permit applications? Send an email to danny.wong@dep.nj.gov and ask to be added to the list for Camden, NJ or other NJ municipalities.
- NJ DEP Environmental Justice Homepage: https://www.nj.gov/dep/ej/communities.html
Developed resources reported in this project are supported by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greening Camden project, Rowan Green Jobs Academy, and TD Bank. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders.
