Pollution Free Cities: Monitoring Local Air Pollution in Ontario

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Monitoring Local Air Pollution in Ontario

: Image via Wikipedia

Brief Review: Using Air Monitoring as a Tool to Assess & Address Local Airsheds & Micro-Environments in Ontario (66 pages, March 9, 2010, Kim Perrotta for the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario)

Also discussed here: 2009/2010 Annual Report of the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (232 pages pdf, Sept. 22, 2010)

The report reviewed today, in support of the 2009/2010 Annual Report by the Environmental Commissioner for Ontario, describes the state of air quality monitoring for a number of municipalities in southern and eastern Ontario (Toronto, York, Halton Region, Peel Region, Waterloo, Hamilton, Sudbury, and Ottawa) and how these data may be used for applications, such as urban planning and public health. The Commissioner’s report, in turn, suggested a greater priority for mobile sources that appears to go beyond the present regional objectives of the Ontario Ministry of Environment which nevertheless is committed to “developing an approach to considering cumulative impacts of mobile and area sources”.

Key Quotes:

“[the report] examines when, where and how air monitoring is currently being used in Ontario as a tool to assess and address local airsheds and/or micro-environments, and when, where and how it could or should be used as a tool to assess air quality impacts and protect human health.”

“As a rule, the MOE does not get involved in the assessment of local airsheds in a comprehensive way because the MOE does not see itself having regulatory authority or jurisdiction for many of the emission sources within a community”

“the Province may need to recognize that: the MOE air quality expertise is needed to assess and address air quality in a cumulative way; and the MOE needs to move beyond its focus on point source to include mobile and area sources as well as point sources.. emissions associated with vehicles and traffic corridors are considered a very high priority..”

“The AQI air monitoring network is composed of 40 air monitoring stations that are located across the province.. intended to measure ambient air quality and are used to support the issuance of smog advisories when elevated AQI levels are forecast to occur…intentionally sited in areas that will not be heavily influenced by local emission sources such as large industrial facilities or highways”

[Environmental Commissioner of Ontario annual report] “Municipal representatives observed that MOE’s role in air quality protection needs to evolve, to address not only large point sources, but also the cumulative impacts of mobile and area sources, such as traffic corridors and residential home heating. As municipalities become increasingly intensified, we are bound to see growing public pressure to maintain acceptable air quality in highly urbanized settings. In order to effectively manage urban air quality, we will certainly need to assess it.”

[Ministry of Environment of Ontario response] “The ministry operates a state-of-the art ambient air monitoring network and works with stakeholders, including various levels of government and academia, in assessing the impacts of street-level emissions on air quality along major traffic corridors and in high density urban areas.. These street-level monitoring activities, together with air-quality modeling, will enable the ministry to determine whether more comprehensive air monitoring networks would benefit the health of Ontarians. MOE has committed to developing an approach to considering cumulative impacts of mobile and area sources”