Local, state, and federal elected officials toured ORCAA’s Lacey air monitor station
On Thursday, August 27, U.S. Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, Washington’s 10th Congressional District, and Representative Lisa Parshley, Washington’s 22nd Legislative District, toured ORCAA’s James P. Werner Air Monitoring Station in Lacey.
In addition to ORCAA staff and Board members (Thurston County Commissioner Emily Clouse and City of Lacey Councilmember Ryan Siu), several partner agencies also participated in the event, including the Washington State Department of Ecology, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, the Thurston County Department of Public Health & Social Services, and the North Thurston School District.
Before visiting the monitoring station, the officials received a briefing from ORCAA Executive Director Jeff Johnston, ORCAA’s Senior Air Monitor Specialist Odelle Hadley, and Ecology’s Air Monitoring Coordinator Jill Schulte. The briefing included an overview of ORCAA and the work of Washington’s seven Local Clean Air Agencies. This included details about the air monitoring being done in Lacey, and information about how Ecology, ORCAA, and other Washington Local Clean Air Agencies used Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funds over the past several years to strengthen Washington’s air monitoring network.
IRA funding helped modernize the air monitoring station in Lacey. Mountain View Elementary School in Lacey has hosted ORCAA’s Thurston County air quality monitoring station since 1984 – 42 years! But the shelter that housed ORCAA’s equipment was built in the late 1990s. So, after securing IRA funding through Ecology, ORCAA replaced an aging wooden structure with a new shelter in August 2025. Atmospheric measurements made at the site include PM2.5, ozone, black carbon (soot), and meteorological data (wind, temperature, and pressure). ORCAA and Ecology staff also use the site as a testing platform for new air monitoring technologies.
The partnership between ORCAA, Ecology, and the North Thurston School District’s Mountain View Elementary School ensures that residents of Thurston County have quality information about the current air quality in their community.
