A new air quality monitoring station is being installed by the Ministry of Environment on the roof of the Williams Lake Fire Hall.
Pinnacle Pellet of Williams Lake has provided the funds to cover the $12,000 cost of a total suspended particulate unit, plus filters, while the Ministry of Environment is covering the rest of the costs for the station.
The city is providing the site for installation and the power.
Last week Williams Lake City Council approved the installation of the station.
Prior to the construction of the new fire hall there was a monitoring station at the site.
It was dismantled as a result of the fire hall construction and reconfiguration of the network in Williams Lake.
In a report to council, general manager of planning and operations Geoff Goodall said the costs to the city will not be significant and the city welcomes the addition of the station.
“It is in an area of town where we do get a number of complaints about fine particulates and air quality so we thought it was important to get this station in place,” Goodall said.
The site is intended to assist in managing local sources, such as the stack emissions from Pinnacle Pellet plant and Tolko sawmill’s energy system, and road dust, which are subject to complaints about air quality regarding both dust and fine particulate emissions, MOE communications manager Suntanu Dalal explains in an e-mail response.
Staff from the Ministry of Environment will be responsible for monitoring and maintaining the station.
Dalal explains the monitors will provide PM 2.5 and total particulate matter (TPM) data according to the National Air Pollutant Surveillance Program schedule of one 24-hour composite sample per six days.
Once the new station is installed, the information collected will add to the existing two continuous and two non-continous stations already in place in Williams Lake.
Council authorized city staff to sign a five-year memorandum of understanding with MOE, and once the agreement is signed the station will be installed, Dalal says.