Clean Air



Volunteer Orientation at the Ministry of the Environment

 College of the Rockies, East Kootenay Citizens for Clean Air, and the Ministry of the Environment are all taking part in a Winter Air Quality Monitoring Program with a $20,000 grant obtained by Wildsight from the New Horizons for Seniors Program as part of a Federal Government Grant. Starting Jan 18, volunteers will be driving a 95 km route between Cranbrook and Kimberley every evening for 3 weeks. A Toyota Prius will be outfitted with a portable nephelometer which will take air quality readings for particulate matter.  While Cranbrook does have a stationary air quality reader, this type of mobile sampling offers a great advantage and will give us greater in site into our winter air quality which tends to be much poorer than the air quality we have in the summer. Volunteers will take turns driving the route every evening and a report will be presented possibly sometime this summer, although this is dependent on the type of data that is collected. Air quality has a real effect on the health of our local citizens and this is a great project involving many local volunteers and various government and non-profit organizations.