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By rdnewsNOW Staff

TO COMPARE DURING LITHIUM PROCESSING

East Mountain View County air quality named priority in Olds engagement session

Jul 31, 2024 | 11:16 AM

Olds community members shared their desire for baseline air quality monitoring in East Mountain View County last week, where a lithium processing facility has been proposed, during a Parkland Airshed Management Zone (PAMZ) Community Engagements Session.

On July 23 in Olds, residents, and representatives from the PAMZ board and technical working group, Mountain View County, Alberta Environment and Protected Areas and other local organizations gathered to discuss which air quality projects they would like to see prioritized in the region.

PAMZ officials say that baseline monitoring would provide data on the air quality in the region prior to establishing a lithium processing facility, which could be used to compare air quality during processing in the future.

Other concerns raised at a round table discussion included corn processing odours, asphalt operations, oil and gas operations, petroleum odours, contrails, and cumulative effects.

PAMZ says these issues will be taken into consideration by a committee responsible for the siting of the air quality monitoring project in September 2024. Monitoring is expected to be completed from October 2024 to March 2025, with a report detailing the findings expected early in the summer of 2025.

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About the contract

The funds for the air quality monitoring project were made accessible through a creative sentencing after an area organization was recently ordered to pay an $80,000 penalty after a release of hydrogen sulphide from a gas well in 2021. While $2,000 was provided to the Alberta Court of Justice as a fine, the remaining $78,000 was put towards a creative sentencing project, overseen by the Alberta Energy Regulator on behalf of the Alberta Court of Justice.

PAMZ submitted a bid to either target a specific air quality issue identified in the Mountain View County region or collect data to enhance the organization’s knowledge base on the air quality in the area.

The community engagement session was scheduled to gather feedback from residents and stakeholders on issues they would like to see considered for monitoring.

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