SUSTAINABILITY WAS THIS YEAR’S THEME for the All-America city awards, given annually by the National Civic League. But environmental awareness is nothing new for Chelsea, one of 10 US communities recognized by the organization on June 29 for their “transformative, community-driven efforts to strengthen environmental sustainability and their civic infrastructure.”

“Chelsea has been doing this work before this work was catchy,” said City Manager Fidel Maltez, who traveled to Denver last month for the awards ceremony.

Many communities have come to value sustainable practices like recycling or increasing green space. But Chelsea’s commitment to sustainability was born from years of environmental injustice. The densely populated city of 40,000 residents just north of Boston has long had to contend with a litany of environmental hazards – and the public health problems they bring.

An endless stream of truck traffic and vehicle emissions blanket the community, which is home to the largest produce center in New England, with tens of thousands of deliveries per year. Its air is contaminated by toxic lead paint and thick dust from the busy Tobin Bridge, which looms overhead. With one of one the highest asthma rates in the state, Chelsea also stores a large portion of road salt and home heating fuel used in the region, as well as jet fuel used at nearby Logan International Airport.

It’s all part of a long history in which poorer cities and communities of color have been saddled with a disproportionate share of environmental hazards.

“Those industries are not in wealthy, white, and suburban communities. Those industries are placed here in Chelsea intentionally,” Maltez said. “They are placed in poor, in brown, in immigrant communities.”

Around 44 percent of Chelsea’s predominantly Latino population was born outside of the United States — the largest foreign-born population of any community in Massachusetts. Nearly 21 percent of the city’s residents were living below the poverty line in 2023, compared to about 10 percent across Massachusetts and 11 percent nationwide.

“What is often highlighted in poor and immigrant communities is the bad stuff,” Maltez said. “We made it a point to go to Denver and share the really innovative stuff that we’re doing, particularly around climate change.”

With only 3 percent of its land designated for parks and only a 2 percent tree canopy, Chelsea has been dubbed a heat island — lacking open green space and shaded areas. But thanks to the city’s Cool Block project, over 60 trees were planted on the city’s hottest block, the rooftop of their Boy’s & Girl’s Club was painted white to reflect sunlight, the heat-absorbent asphalt was repainted from black to grey, and a vacant lot was turned into a park.

The “cool block” is the product of the city’s collaboration with Boston University’s School of Public Health and the Boston Society of Landscape Architects. Chelsea residents helped to point out the hotspot, collect data, and design the cooling strategies.

Another project that helped bring home the All-America title was the city’s microgrid. Some residents relocated to Chelsea after Hurricane Maria, which left areas of Puerto Rico without power for months in 2017. Having witnessed the devastating impacts of grid failure, those residents called for climate resilience and reliable energy.

After applying for grants, the city installed solar panels and large capacity batteries in critical infrastructure, including City Hall, a police station, and a public works garage. In its second phase, it will be extended to a Chelsea Housing Authority property as well as a hospital.

In the event of climate disaster or grid failure, it will help deliver clean energy while keeping essential buildings and equipment powered. The savings generated by the clean energy sources and revenue generated by excess energy being sold back to the electric company will be used to reduce utility costs for low-income residents and further expand the microgrid.

Maltez said the long-term goal is for Chelsea to govern and operate its own electric utility.

A third project the community was recognized for was Chelsea’s network of over 80 air quality sensors. Deployed in partnership with Northeastern University in 2023, the sensors provide real-time pollution data and deliver air quality updates to residents and researchers via a multilingual digital dashboard. They are hung all over the community, including outside some residents’ homes. Maltez says the data will back them up in the fight for change.

“We are really taking a data-first approach,” Maltez said. “In order to effectuate policy and in order to effectuate change, we wanted to track, basically, what is the real time air quality in our community.”

When he was appointed in 2023, Maltez, who immigrated to the US from Nicaragua when he was seven, became Chelsea’s first Latino city manager. The former civil engineer previously served as the city’s commissioner of public works.

When asked if he’s been able to mobilize immigrant and Hispanic residents towards environmental sustainability, Maltez said this kind of work was in the city’s blood long before he assumed his role. “We continued the work that has been happening in Chelsea for over 30 years,” he said.

Although industry often plagues their environment, it’s no secret that it is vital to the economy. Maltez says both can be true. “Chelsea is an environmental justice community. Chelsea is an industrial community. We are not trying to kick industry out,” he said.

Chelsea has been named an All-America city twice before — once in 1998 and again in 2014. But Maltez said winning the award this year was special in light of the federal government targeting of immigrant communities – Chelsea was the focus of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in March.

Chelsea is easy to underestimate, said Maltez, who called the community “the ultimate underdog.”

“We know that no one is going to come in and save Chelsea,” he said. “Chelsea has to take care of itself.”