Summary
Organization name
Citizens for Clean Air
2013
Tax id (EIN)
83-1472133
Category
Environment
Organization Size
Small Organization
Address
PO Box 101 Grand Junction CO 81502GRAND JUNCTION, CO 81507
Grand Junction, CO, US
About
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We are the only nonprofit organization on the Western Slope focused exclusively on air quality. During our thirteen years of service we have worked to educate the public, advocate for cleaner burning practices, monitor for particulates, ozone and indoor radon, and communicate protective measures during wildfire smoke events. Our citizen science projects include biochar trials and PurpleAir network support. We’ve also engaged in policy decisions in city, county and state governments. CCA is community based, volunteer-driven, and donation-supported.
Your generosity helps us purchase monitoring equipment and supplies, obtain services, and educate others.
Thank you for considering a gift to help protect our air.
Giving Activity
Mission
To research the causes of air pollution on the Western Slope and promote the improvement of air quality in Mesa County through grassroots involvement with local, state and federal agencies along with the private sector and other nonprofit organizations, and to mitigate the effects of known air pollutants on humans, animals, agriculture and the environment.
Background Statement
We were founded in the winter of 2012/13 during a cold air inversion that trapped visibly polluted air in the Grand Valley for months.
In 2018, Citizens for Clean Air (CCA) became a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
We saw a need to monitor air pollutant particles in the Grand Valley. We researched and identified a relatively low-cost, reliable unit that measures and reports high-quality, real-time particulate data—manufactured by PurpleAir LLC. Thousands of these units had been deployed globally, but none on the Western Slope. Today, thanks to our volunteers along with members of the community, over sixty PurpleAir monitors are active throughout the valley. We especially encourage indoor monitors in homes, schools and workplaces. CCA volunteers service, replace and repair monitors.
Radon is a harmful radioactive gas that can commonly be found inside homes and workplaces in the Grand Valley due to the presence of uranium in the ground. Additionally, uranium and vanadium were mined from formations in the area, and the mill tailings are also a source of radon gas. Foundations constructed into these conditions have the potential for radon gas migration into the structure.
In late 2024, we initiated the Radon Monitoring Program to help educate community members about the occurrence and health risk of radon gas in the air. We provide a free and easy way to screen people’s living and workspaces for the presence of radon.
Burning biomass in fields and piles - agricultural burning - is a fast, cheap method that sends harmful smoke into the surrounding air during the spring and fall here in the Grand Valley. Citizens for Clean Air led the effort to restrict residential burning in 2018 by the City of Grand Junction and Mesa County.
We initiated a five year experiment using biochar in gardens valley-wide. Biochar is a substance made by heating biomass at extreme temperatures, which could potentially eliminate burning fields and piles. We continue the experiment at the CSU Fruita facility as we document the water conservation properties of biochar.
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Organization Data
GRAND JUNCTION, CO 81507