About¶
About Port Health Watch¶
Port Health Watch is a policy research platform that quantifies the health costs of port pollution in American communities. We produce site-specific health impact assessments using peer-reviewed methodology and primary-source data, translating emissions data into the monetized health outcomes that drive regulatory action and funding decisions.
This project exists because a critical gap separates what we know about port emissions and what communities can prove. The science linking PM2.5 exposure to premature death is settled. The data on who lives near ports — and what they earn, and what diseases they carry — is public. But no standardized, accessible framework connects these data streams into the dollar figures that move policymakers, port commissioners, and grant reviewers. Port Health Watch builds that bridge.
The Founder¶
Nathan Pelkey is a registered lobbyist in Minnesota and Wisconsin, founder of Civil Ledger Lab — a civic transparency research platform spanning 42+ policy domains — and the developer of two novel environmental market frameworks: the first Verra VCS methodology filing for maritime at-berth carbon capture, and the Air Quality Health Unit (AQHU) framework under development for Verra's SD VISta program.
His research methodology is polymathic and primary-source: trace the money, read the filings, cross-reference the permits, and surface the structural contradictions that insulate polluters from accountability. In the port context, that means connecting EPA emissions data, Census demographics, CDC health surveillance, and state regulatory records into a single evidence chain — one that reveals the gap between known health costs and the absence of mandatory controls or financial frameworks to address them.
Nathan is based in Minnesota.
Our Broader Mission¶
Port Health Watch is developing two novel frameworks for the voluntary environmental markets:
Air Quality Health Units (AQHUs): The first tradable health benefit asset class for port pollution reduction, under development for submission to Verra's SD VISta program. One AQHU represents one Disability-Adjusted Life Year (DALY) avoided through verified reduction in port-attributable air pollution exposure.
Maritime Carbon Capture Methodology: A Verra VCS methodology module for at-berth carbon capture using barge-mounted systems with calcium looping mineralization — a technology commercially deployed in California and the UK but currently ineligible for carbon credit issuance under any existing methodology.
Organizational Structure¶
Port Health Watch is a research initiative of Civil Ledger Lab, a civic transparency platform operating across 42+ policy research domains. It is operated by EcoAsset Lab LLC, which develops financial frameworks for environmental and climate assets.
Media & Speaking¶
For media inquiries, speaking requests, or research collaboration:
Email: research@porthealthwatch.org
Contact¶
Email: research@porthealthwatch.org
For research partnerships, health impact assessment inquiries, or port community advocacy support.
License¶
The research and analysis on this site is published for public benefit. Journalists, researchers, and advocacy organizations are encouraged to cite and build upon our work with attribution.