Strathmore passes air quality test

Miriam Ostermann, Times Associate Editor

The Town of Strathmore recently received a clean bill of health – at least where the air quality is concerned.
Data taken by AGAT Laboratories, which has been monitoring air quality for the past several weeks, revealed no exceedances of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in the ambient air north of Strathmore.
A trailer outfitted with meteorological instrumentation to measure local windspeed, direction and temperature, and with a Thermo Scientific analyzer, was stationed at the northeast corner of Township Rd. 244 and George Freeman Trail since June 30.
AGAT Laboratories was asked to specifically concentrate on the two compounds, to provide council with information and ensure the safety of Strathmore residents.
During the July 19 regular Town of Strathmore council meeting, AGAT Laboratories explained their current data and verified that traces found in the air, which came from northwest, north and northeast wind directions, have not so far set off alarm bells.
“Up until this point in time, we’ve not observed any exceedances of the Alberta ambient air quality objectives,” said Janice Gallwey, a representative from AGAT Laboratories.
“The air monitoring station is operated and maintained in accordance with the Alberta air monitoring directive, and the data from the analyzers is pulled to our internal server. The data is reviewed for daily anomalies and exceedances in those objectives.”
The hourly exceedance for H2S correlates to 10 parts per billion (ppb) while its daily limit is three ppb. In contrast, SO2’s hourly rate is 172 ppb while its daily limit is 48 ppb.
In Strathmore, results showed a peak hourly reading of 4.4 ppb for H2S with a peak daily amount of 1.2 ppb. In turn, SO2 showed a peak hourly value of 12.5 ppb with a daily peak of 5.2 ppb. All numbers were well below the limits.
Gallwey did mention that the trailer was malfunctioning in the beginning, but equipment issues had been addressed and the trailer has since been operating as expected.
Council also inquired about methane gas and the air quality in other parts of Strathmore, questions which were left unanswered since the equipment only collects data specifically on what it’s being set up to test.
“We’ve been monitoring now for three weeks (and) we’ve ruled out the things that I was most concerned about with the H2S and S02,” said Trent West, head of emergency social services on July 19.
“We are going to bring out a canister which monitors and samples all air and about 60 different things. Now, we will identify the things that we have in our air so that you have more comfort and sense of what we are talking about as we go forward.”
Council members were appreciative of the information, and Mayor Michael Ell said the importance of the value of the data is to understand the situation in Strathmore. The trailer remained in operation for a few more weeks following the public meeting.