PHOTO: JOEY PODLUBNY:
Some believe that when it comes to evaluating air quality, it is
more meaningful to analyze changes and trends over time—which
is gathered from hourly concentration data to begin with—rather
than to focus on fleeting or momentary concentration exceedances.
The community of Fort Mc Kay is located in the middle of oilsands operations and has
significant interest in air quality.
in areas of new development, including the sole station south of
Anzac and the station at the Horizon mine, which opened in 2008.
He also raises concerns with looking at daily, monthly (seasonal), and
annual trends in collected data, as he believes they tend to show the
way things appear when averaged out over time, without giving due
attention to exceedances, or short-term spikes in concentrations.
These instances of exceedance could pose dangers, although there
are differing opinions on the potential threat they may pose to public health.
Reacting to periodic exceedances may be problematic when it comes
to evaluating potential impact on public health, because exceedance
guidelines are just that—guidelines, and are not necessarily linked to
adverse impacts on human health.
At any rate, it’s valuable to recognize that the results of monitoring
only represent the exact point and time at which a particular meas-
urement was taken, and to bear in mind, as Kindzierski says, “One
pollutant at one station is not indicative of what is going on in an
entire area.”
While air quality monitoring is an activity of significant importance
to people living in the Wood Buffalo airshed, it is just one of many
ongoing environmental and public health concerns. There is an
undeniable need to continue monitoring air quality in the region to
identify trends as longer-term comparison becomes possible.
The WBEA doesn’t have plans for a follow-up study at this time,
but MacEachern says the organization remains committed to gath-
ering and providing air quality information to stakeholders and the
community at large. This includes adapting as new issues arise. For
example, MacEachern notes, “Since 2008, odours have become
more pronounced in a portion of the airshed, and WBEA is evaluat-
ing new odour-related measurement technology to provide stake-
holders with specialized air quality information.”
As Dyer points out, data from the past 10 years is not neces-
sarily indicative of what is happening now or will happen in the
next 10 years, and the rate of industry growth from now until 2020
could be significantly greater than it was in the last decade. On the
other hand, trends seen in the last 10 years could continue to dem-
onstrate negligible impacts on air quality and public health in the
long term. Only time will allow a more complete picture to develop
from this snapshot. SR
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