New air quality monitoring station up and running
It's now much easier to measure the nitrogen dioxide pollutant from motor vehicles traveling past Palace Station on Interstate 15.
The Clark County Department of Air Quality has put up a new monitoring station off of South Rancho Drive near the freeway and casino. The station's new data was available Tuesday on the county's website.
The new station brings the total number of air quality monitoring stations spread throughout the county to 18. The county's move, funded through a federal grant, comes because of new federal regulations that call for the air quality monitoring near high-traffic areas where more than 1 million people live.
The stations keep tabs on air quality in Southern Nevada, and the department puts out advisories when the quality is hazardous for such things as ozone, dust, smoke and carbon monoxide.
The Environmental Protection Agency provides some oversight of the county department, doing audits to ensure compliance.
Federal regulations call for two new monitoring stations, said Phillip Wiker, manager of the county department's monitoring division.
A second new station will be added later this year, adding a 19th station. It will be near Las Vegas Fire Station 1, which is in downtown near U.S. Highway 95.
The county received a $400,000 EPA grant for the cost of the two new stations. It's expected to cover the stations.
A piece of teflon tubing extends from within the monitoring station, sending air into the electronic apparatus that samples the air and sends data to off-site servers.
The data is also provided in real time on the county's air quality website, but with the disclaimer that information isn't vetted immediately.
"We try to provide as much information real time as we can," Wiker said.
The system allows users to get a daily summary of air quality, or the hourly average, both from individual monitoring stations and the overall system.
Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.
