Great Plains Air Zone Annual Report April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016 Prepared by: Air & Climate Business Unit - Environment 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: Stephen Weiss Interim Executive Director Great Plains Air Zone Phone: (306) 537-5050 Email: [email protected] Photo Credit: Virginia Wittrock MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The Great Plains Air Zone (GPAZ) had a productive year. The organization has grown and is working toward achieving the goal of monitoring the air and reporting its quality to the public in the Great Plains region (http://gpaz.org/airquality/mapofstations.php). In April 2015, GPAZ received confirmation from the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment that they would be lending a multi-parameter continuous monitor, known as an Airpointer®. Through discussion and modelling, the board decided to install the device East of the city of Regina. This was installed and preliminary operations began in October, 2015. A competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) was distributed for the maintenance and data collection contract for this unit. The Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) was awarded the contract and began work at the beginning of December 2015. The data is posted live to the GPAZ website and monthly “dashboard” reports are archived on the site. GPAZ learned in September that their request to the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Environment to use their air monitoring laboratory, known as SAML, was approved. Working toward the goal of understanding the current state of air quality in the zone, the board decided to locate the unit in Yorkton, SK. It was located there during the months of September and October. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties the data did not meet quality control requirements and had to be discarded. Through the fall of 2015 GPAZ discussed the need and method to add more continuous air monitoring systems within the Air Zone. A competitive RFP was circulated in the spring of 2016 and SRC was chosen to provide air monitoring services at two additional sites. The monitoring sites are currently being chosen, and are planned to be in the vicinity of Belle Plaine and Yorkton and are projected to be operating in October. Once active, these units will also report air quality live to the GPAZ website so that citizens can check on the quality of air in their region at any given moment, and view reports of past months’ data. Upon request, the Ministry of Environment once again provided the SAML to GPAZ and it was located in Davidson SK in June 2016. The results of that monitoring will be reported on the website once the data collection is completed, likely in October 2016. Going forward, the organization is excited to use the air monitors to gain a clear understanding of the quality of the air in the region in order to assure the public of the good air quality near the Airpointer and to be able to locate and address negative air quality issues. In addition to the ongoing technical work needed to get this network of monitoring active, GPAZ has identified communication as a key priority, both with the public and its current and potential air zone members. Stephen Weiss Interim 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. In 2015, GPAZ managed one continuous air monitoring station. The East Regina airpointer® was installed and began collecting air quality data in September of 2015. The parameters presently measured at this station includes ozone (O3), fine particulates (PM2.5), sulphur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and meteorology. 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 December 2015. As GPAZ only began monitoring in September of 2015, no annual averages are available. The air quality measured at the East Regina station was rated Good for more than 96% of the time from September to December according to the Air Quality Index rating system. The Saskatchewan Environmental Code was released on June 1, 2015, and set new Saskatchewan Ambient Air Quality Standards (SAAQS) which govern what levels of pollutants are deemed acceptable. Any concentrations above these standards are considered exceedance events. No exceedance events were recorded from September to December 2015. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ................................................................................... i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................ii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... iv List of Terms and Definitions ........................................................................................................... v Units of Measurement ..................................................................................................................... v 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 History .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 GPAZ Mission .................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Saskatchewan Environmental Code ................................................................................. 3 1.4 GPAZ Air Monitoring Network ......................................................................................... 4 2 Air quality monitoring ............................................................................................................. 5 2.1 Exceedances above the SAAQS ........................................................................................ 5 2.2 Wind Speed and Direction ............................................................................................... 5 2.3 Continuous Air Quality Data ............................................................................................. 7 2.3.1 Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) ................................................................................................ 7 2.3.2 Oxides of Nitrogen .................................................................................................... 9 2.3.3 Ozone (O3) ............................................................................................................... 11 2.3.4 Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) ............................................................................... 13 Air Quality Index (AQI) .............................................................................................................. 15 3 Audited Financial Statement ................................................................................................ 16 4 References ............................................................................................................................ 17 APPENDIX A. SASKATCHEWAN AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS ........................................... 19 APPENDIX B. EAST REGINA STATION: CONTINUOUS MONITORING DATA .................................. 20 APPENDIX C. 2015 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ................................................................................ 25 APPENDIX D. GPAZ BOARD OF DIRECTORS ................................................................................... 32 APPENDIX E. GPAZ MEMBER Organizations ................................................................................. 33 iii LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Saskatchewan Ambient Air Quality Standards ............................................................. 3 Table 2 East Regina Monitoring Station Measurement Parameters ........................................ 4 Table 3 Summary of Exceedances in 2015 (Sept. to Dec.) ....................................................... 5 Table 4 Summary of Statistics for SO2 Measurement Results for 2015 .................................... 8 Table 5 Summary of Statistics for NO2 Measurement Results for 2015 ................................. 10 Table 6 Summary of Statistics for O3 Measurement Results for 2015 .................................... 12 Table 7 Summary of Statistics for PM2.5 Measurement Results for 2015 ............................... 14 Table 8 AQI Rating and Effect Description ............................................................................ 155 Table 9 Summary of Occurrence Statistics for AQI Rating ...................................................