A new Fort Air Partnership (FAP) continuous air monitoring station in the Town of Redwater is on schedule to becoming operational next month.
The station will be located in the heart of Redwater at 4704-49 Avenue, just southeast of the Town’s administration building. The station will be moved onto the site in mid-September and is expected to begin collecting data in October.
“The new station will continuously collect and report on the quality of the air in and around Redwater. Having an air monitoring station in Redwater is important because it enables us to better understand the quality of the air on a regional basis, especially where people live,” said Nadine Blaney, FAP’s Executive Director. She noted FAP is working closely with town officials and contractors to ensure the smooth set-up and operation of the station. The Town of Redwater has generously offered not to charge FAP lease costs for the site as it considers the station a benefit to the community.
The Redwater station is one of nine continuous air monitoring stations in Fort Air Partnership’s air monitoring network. FAP currently operates an air monitoring station adjacent to Agrium’s Redwater fertilizer plant. That station will be managed by Agrium and will no longer be part of FAP’s network once the Town of Redwater station is activated.
The new Redwater station will collect data on seven substances including sulphur dioxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, ammonia, particulate matter and hydrogen sulphide, as well as weather information. This information will be available to the public in near real time via FAP’s website live date feed.