A bench in KCK with air-quality monitors will be much more than just a place to sit

The construction of a public bench isn’t typically the kind of civic event honored with the pomp and circumstance of a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

But then, not all benches double as solar-powered air monitoring systems built to help communities understand the importance of local air quality.

The bench in question, set to be unveiled May 2 in front of the South Branch Library at 3104 Strong Ave. in Kansas City, Kan., is part of the Obama administration’s Village Green project. It will serve as a small hub of air quality information, tracking everything from ozone to particulate matter and making the information available online.

Kansas City, Kan., is among six cities participating in the program nationwide, including Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Durham, N.C.

“It’s to provide something nice right outside the library there but also kind of increase public awareness and educate the public on how air monitoring is done,” said Ashton Rucker, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. “What kinds of things we monitor for, and how particulate matter and things of that nature can affect your respiratory system.”

Things got rolling last summer, when the Environmental Protection Agency did a national call for cities interested in installing the benches.

The state of Kansas, collaborating with the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance — a group that works to protect communities vulnerable to pollution — submitted a proposal.

And after a review by the EPA, it was selected as a participating city.

The project will provide people with information in the hope of sparking engagement on issues of local air quality.

It’s not the first time Kansas City, Kan., has been involved in matters of air quality leadership.

A year ago, the Kansas health department held a ribbon-cutting ceremony there for a Burlington Northern Santa Fe locomotive with reduced emissions.

The benches, meanwhile, are part of a sizable package of measures that the Obama administration announced recently to generate awareness and education regarding climate change and air quality issues.

Additionally, the initiative calls for American universities to provide training to students to help address the health impacts of climate change. It also calls for disease research from tech companies like Google and Microsoft and the continued assistance of various government agencies.

Speaking at Howard University in Washington, D.C., this month, President Barack Obama called on Americans to do their part in countering climate change.

“We’ve got a lot more work to do,” he said, “if we’re going to deal with this problem in an effective way and make sure that our families and our kids are safe.”

This story was originally published April 19, 2015 at 8:49 PM with the headline "A bench in KCK with air-quality monitors will be much more than just a place to sit."