Fort Air Partnership (FAP) has moved its Keith Purves Portable Air Monitoring Station to the community of Thorhild. It began reporting data in early April.
Portable monitoring sites are chosen through a site selection process that assesses several candidate locations in the Airshed. Thorhild was chosen because it is currently the largest community in the Airshed where no continuous air monitoring (portable or otherwise) has been located. The nearest continuous air monitoring station is in Redwater 22 kilometres away.
“FAPs portable station allows us to be responsive to air monitoring needs in the Airshed,” said Nadine Blaney, FAP’s Executive Director. “We’re now able to capture data that characterizes the air quality Thorhild residents experience, and compare it with the other communities we serve. It will also help us determine possible effects of larger air quality events like wildfires, inversions and summertime smog.”
The community of Thorhild is in the northern third of the FAP Airshed and lies directly north of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland area. The portable station is sited at Thorhild’s water transfer station just west of 7th Avenue and 7th Street.
The portable station will collect and report data on the substances used to calculate the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI). These are: sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, ozone, non-methane hydrocarbons, methane and particulate matter. The station will also provide weather information.
The portable station will operate in Thorhild for one year. Tours of the station are available to community groups on request. For tour inquiries email us at info@fortairmail.org or phone 1-800-718-0471.
The portable monitoring station was previously located for one year near the Hamlet of Newbrook. A summary report of those data findings will be available in June.
FAP has 10 continuous air monitoring stations in and around Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. Continuous data is collected 24 hours a day, seven days a week and generated through a live data feed accessible to anyone who visits www.heartlandairmonitoring.org. FAP Airshed monitoring and reporting is guided by a scientific advisory group and driven by national and provincial standards.