Wheatland County holds firm on not rejoining air monitoring group

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland County has decided not to rejoin the organization that monitors air quality throughout the Calgary region.
The Calgary Region Airshed Zone (CRAZ) is a non-profit organization that monitors and analyzes air quality data throughout an area of southern Alberta that includes Wheatland County.
CRAZ has five continuous air quality monitoring stations: three in Calgary and one in Airdrie, and a Portable Air Monitoring Lab (PAML). Using information gathered at these stations, the organization provides an air quality health index that informs residents whether outdoor activities are safe under current air quality conditions.
The PAML is shared by four air monitoring regions throughout the province, so it is deployed on a rotating basis over six-month intervals. It is scheduled to be sited in the east of the CRAZ within the Chestermere, Strathmore and Wheatland area from October 2020 to March 2021, and again from April to September 2022, according to the organization.
However, as CRAZ has reported severe revenue cuts, its board is examining possible expenditure cuts, including the possibility of not operating the PAML in the Strathmore and Wheatland area during these two periods.
Wheatland County ended its membership to CRAZ in 2019. On March 10, 2020, CRAZ provided Wheatland County a letter requesting the municipality renew its membership to ensure the continuation of monitoring throughout the east of the region.
Membership fees for municipalities were set by the organization in 2010 at 10 cents per resident. For 2020, Wheatland County’s membership fee would be $878.80, based on its 2016 census population of 8,788.
On March 23, Wheatland County council voted unanimously not to rejoin CRAZ.
“CRAZ is disappointed in the decision by the council of Wheatland County, while we do respect their decision,” said CRAZ executive director Jill Bloor in a written statement. “We will continue to work with administrative staff and share our knowledge and resources while working on highlighting the importance of membership.”
According to Wheatland County Reeve Amber Link, the reason for the decision was financial.
“Despite CRAZ having a mission and a vision that are progressive in nature, we do have to very critically analyze each of those commitments that we are making with our taxpayer’s dollars,” said Link. “That was one line-item where we didn’t necessary see the return on investment to justify that investment.”
Recent economic challenges means council must make tough spending decisions, said Link.
“A high priority for our council is fiscal responsibility – even more so in these unprecedented times, both with the pandemic, but also the crisis in our energy sector, we know is going to impact the revenue for the county,” said Link.
“We are looking at every line item, and we are going to need to do that for the sustainability of Wheatland County.”
The advantages for municipalities of joining CRAZ is the provision of the air quality health index for places other than where the permanent monitoring stations are sited, said Bloor.
“The index is especially important for people who have respiratory issues, the very young, or the very old,” she noted. “Other than the City of Calgary and the City of Airdrie, there isn’t the ability to create that, unless we have the portable (lab).”