NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2010ENV0002-000008 Jan. 7, 2010

Ministry of Environment

 

NEW MONITORING STATION HELPS CLEAR THE AIR

 

DUNCAN – A new air quality monitoring station will give Cowichan Valley residents real-time information about their air quality and will support local initiatives to reduce particulate from wood stoves and open burning, Environment Minister Barry Penner announced today.

 

“The new monitoring station is an important tool for education and awareness, providing vital information about air quality in the Cowichan Valley,” said Penner. “Data collected at the monitoring station will also support woodstove exchange programs in the region and the local development of bylaws on open burning and woodstoves.”

 

The station was installed near Duncan Elementary this past fall at a cost of about $100,000. Technicians with the Ministry of Environment have since been fine-tuning the equipment to ensure it is working properly and that air quality readings are accurate.

 

“Government supports cleaner air quality and healthier lifestyles for Cowichan Valley area residents and communities across B.C.,” said Ida Chong, Minister of Healthy Living and Sport. “In addition to air quality monitoring, our Province’s leadership in air quality programs – including the new guidelines for fine particulate matter, the woodstove exchange program and our idle-free initiative – are helping to improve air quality levels throughout the province.”

 

The monitoring station collects information on air quality by measuring fine particulate matter in the air from smoke, transportation exhaust and other sources. The station also measures ground-level ozone and nitrogen oxides. The data collected will be used to generate a regional Air Quality Health Index, which will be used to issue advisories as needed to help manage air quality and protect the health of people living in the Cowichan Valley. This is the first provincial air quality monitoring station in the Cowichan Valley, and is part of a network of stations that monitor and assess air quality throughout B.C.

 

Air quality will be continuously monitored and the results will be available to the public in real time on the website: http://www.bcairquality.ca/readings/index.html.

 

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Media Contact:

Suntanu Dalal Media Relations Ministry of Environment 250 953-4577

 

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