To kick-off Clean Air Day, industrial operators in southeast Saskatchewan will have enhanced reliable data on emissions and air quality following the launch of a cutting-edge air quality monitor by the Southeast Saskatchewan Airshed Association (SESAA) in Weyburn.Installed and managed by the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), the airpointer air quality monitor is the only one of its type operating in western Canada. It can perform 150 diagnostics from a remote location and provide the scientific data to track and address air quality in the airshed.The SESAA airshed area being monitored extends from Yorkton to Estevan, covering a region that has oil drilling and flaring activity, potash mines, power generation and other industrial activities."We need reliable scientific data to keep track of air quality in our airshed as industrial emissions affect soil, water, air and health of humans, plants and animals," SESAA's Executive Director Terry Gibson said. "SESAA members, who are major industrial players in this region, want to be good environmental stewards and the airpointer data will help them meet their regulatory requirements on emissions and air quality." "SRC has been at the forefront in providing applied research and technology and this new monitor represents a great improvement over the previous air sampler monitoring technology that provided data every two weeks," SRC's Manager of Air Quality Keith Wallace said. "The monitoring system SRC has set up collects air quality data every minute and provides hourly data averages that can be used in a timely manner in case the air quality changes." The airpointer collects fine particulate material and measures Hydrogen Sulphide, Ozone, Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide and Nitrogen Dioxide in parts-per-billion (ppb).Since April, the monitor in Weyburn has reported only two Hydrogen Sulphide exceedances, in which the range of gas was above the Ministry of the Environments limit of 10-ppb."The air quality is relatively good in that location," said Wallace. "You've only had two variances for about an hour."Any exceedances are reported to the Ministry of Environment within a three day period.
