Contaminant not caused by DYEC, report says
Incident occurred in November 2017
A recent report from the Region of Durham has placed the blame for air contaminants on nearby idling trucks and not the DYEC.
By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express
A spike in air contaminants near the Durham York Energy Centre in November has been attributed to nearby heavy trucks.
On Nov. 27, 2017, an air quality measurement at region’s Rundle Road monitoring station exceeded the province’s 24-hour ambient air monitoring standards by 93 per cent.
The region was notified of the exceedance on Jan. 22 by Stantec Inc., the consultant for the DYEC.
Measurements at the region’s other two ambient air quality monitoring stations on that day were well below legislated standards.
In response to the exceedance, Stantec performed an investigation of the incident.
According to a report from Stantec, the consultant found no evidence of equipment malfunction or error in laboratory analysis.
There were also no air quality alerts issued by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change on that day and the DYEC was not upwind of the Rundle Road station.
Therefore, Stantec attributed heavy truck traffic and idling in the area of the monitoring station as the likely cause of the exceedance.
It was also concluded the incident posed a “negligible human health risk.”
As reported earlier by The Oshawa Express, this is the second such exceedance at the Rundle Road station, the first coming on June 12, 2017, which was attributed to the nearby construction on the future Highway 418.
At that time, Durham Region commissioner of works Susan Siopis said it was the first time in three years of monitoring that air quality measurements had exceeded provincial standards.