2019 GPAZ Annual Report
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- Great Plains Air Zone Annual Report January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 Prepared by: Environmental Performance & Climate Business Unit Environment and Biotech Division Saskatchewan Research Council 125 – 15 Innovation Blvd. Saskatoon, SK S7N 2X8 Tel: 306-933-5400 Fax: 306-933-7817 For more information, please contact: Murray Hilderman Executive Director Great Plains Air Zone Phone: 306-551-6334 Email: [email protected] Photo Credit: Virginia Wittrock MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 2019 was a year of success, and transition for the Great Plains Air Zone (GPAZ). The GPAZ is a non-profit organization with members from industry, provincial and municipal governments, environmental groups and the general public from within the region. The support from its members and dedication of its Board continue to make the GPAZ and the data it produces of the highest quality. GPAZ thanks former Executive Director Stephen Weiss for his excellent work in leading several major accomplishments including the successful commissioning of new monitoring stations and significant improvements in the Board Bylaws. I am honoured to be the new Executive Director and will strive to continue the success that GPAZ has come to expect. The Board also saw transition with a new Chair, Kendi Young (CCRL Refinery Complex) and new Secretary/Treasurer Jim Elliot (Saskatchewan Econetwork) being elected to work along with Robert Schutzman (Evraz) continuing to serve as Vice-Chair. Each year there is more understanding and awareness of the health risks related to poor air quality in contributing to a variety of illnesses, especially those related to heart and lungs. Pollutants with the strongest evidence for public health concern include particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). GPAZ continuously monitors for all these parameters with the highest precision in our communities and communicates the information transparently. In May this past year a new monitoring station was commissioned at our East Regina location giving GPAZ three stations with full federal reference methodology (FRM) monitoring and meteorological capacity. 2019 also saw GPAZ collaborate with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment to monitor in north east Regina. The initial data from both locations demonstrate that member companies in these areas are operating in our community in a sustainable and safe manner. In 2020 GPAZ will continue to monitor where it is most needed, increase public awareness of the work being done, and increase partnerships with organizations to provide information that can improve health outcomes in our communities. I gratefully acknowledge the support of GPAZ members and the dedication of the Board that has allows us to continue to do so. Sincerely, Murray Hilderman Executive Director Great Plains Air Zone i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Great Plains Air Zone (GPAZ) was formed in 2013 and is the third active air management association in Saskatchewan. GPAZ is a non-profit group of public, industry, government, and non-government members formed following a directive from the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment under the Canada-wide Air Quality Management System (AQMS). The association is designed to get a better understanding of air quality in the region and address any serious air quality issues that may exist. This is done by collecting credible, continuous real-time air quality information through collaborative efforts of its members and stakeholders. 2019 was the second full year of operation for the monitoring stations at Pense and Yorkton, which were established in February and May of 2017, respectively. The Airpointer at the East Regina station was replaced by a new air monitoring station at the same site in May 2019. Including the East Regina station, which has been in operation since October 2015, the GPAZ continuous air monitoring network currently consists of three stations that each measure real- time data for one or more of ozone (O3), fine particulates (PM2.5), sulphur dioxide (SO2), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), oxides of nitrogen (NOX), precipitation, ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction. The data may be viewed on the GPAZ website (http://www.gpaz.org/). Quarterly calibrations and routine maintenance were performed in accordance with a Quality Assurance Plan provided to GPAZ by contractors responsible for the maintenance, calibration and data management for the airshed. Calibrations were performed in March, June, August and December. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Message from the Executive Director............................................................................................................ i Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... vi List of Terms and Definitions ...................................................................................................................... vii Units of Measurement ................................................................................................................................ vii Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 History ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 GPAZ Purpose and Objectives ....................................................................................................... 3 1.3 GPAZ Air Monitoring Network ...................................................................................................... 3 Air Quality Monitoring ......................................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Exceedances above the SAAQS ..................................................................................................... 4 2.1.1 Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards ............................................................................. 4 2.2 Continuous Air Quality Data ......................................................................................................... 5 2.2.1 Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) ............................................................................................................ 5 2.2.2 Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) ....................................................................................................... 8 2.2.3 Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX) .................................................................................................... 11 2.2.4 Ozone (O3) ........................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.5 Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) ........................................................................................... 17 2.3 Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) .................................................................................................. 20 2.4 Wind Speed and Direction .......................................................................................................... 21 References .......................................................................................................................................... 24 APPENDIX A. SASKATCHEWAN AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS ......................................................... 25 APPENDIX B. EAST REGINA STATION (Airpointer): CONTINUOUS MONITORING DATA ............................. 26 APPENDIX C. Pense STATION: CONTINUOUS MONITORING DATA............................................................. 33 APPENDIX D. YORKTON STATION: CONTINUOUS MONITORING DATA ...................................................... 40 APPENDIX E. GPAZ EXCEEDANCE SUMMARY .............................................................................................. 47 APPENDIX F. MAQS GPAZ SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 48 APPENDIX G. GPAZ BOARD OF DIRECTORS ................................................................................................. 51 APPENDIX H. GPAZ MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS .......................................................................................... 52 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 GPAZ Air Monitoring Station Measurement Parameters ......................................................... 3 Table 2 Summary of Exceedances in 2019 ............................................................................................ 4 Table 3 Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) ................................................................... 5 Table 4 Summary of Statistics for SO2 Measurement Results for 2019 ................................................ 6 Table 5 Summary Statistics for H2S in 2019 ........................................................................................... 9 Table 6 Number of Exceedance Events for H2S in 2019 ........................................................................ 9 Table 7 Summary of Statistics for NO2 Measurement