Okotoks air quality readings are available in real-time as part of a year-long project.
Air quality is being monitored and can be analyzed online anytime through ongoing work by the Calgary Region Airshed Zone Society (CRAZ), a non-profit working to monitor the air quality in Calgary and surrounding regions on behalf of the Government of Alberta.
A portable air monitoring laboratory has been collecting data from an area between Okotoks Junior High School and Percy Pegler School since last August. Data collection will continue until July 31, according to CRAZ.
The air quality readings are available online and can be accessed on the Calgary Region Airshed Zone website.
Air quality is measured and presented through the air quality health index, or AQHI, which provides a number from 1 to 10+ to indicate the level of health risk associated with local air quality, according to the CRAZ website.
Okotoks air quality has consistently hovered in the 1-3 range, getting up to 4 in a few isolated cases in September, November and December, with one abnormal spike up to 8 on Sept. 18, 2024 at 11 a.m. that was likely due to an unspecified local nearby source, according to CRAZ.
Real-time readings are also available for Airdrie and three locations in Calgary: Southeast, Inglewood and Varsity.
The air quality readings for Okotoks aren't showing anything out of the ordinary, according to Mandeep Dhaliwal, air quality program manager with CRAZ.
"When I compare it to the other three stations in Calgary and one in Airdrie, the data looks very, very similar," he explained. "It follows the same trend, which is not abnormal."
Dhaliwal, a chemist by profession, has spent over 20 years working with air quality and environmental pollution.
Real-time data is available on weather conditions and air quality measurements focusing on air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen, ozone, sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, particulate matter such as dust and smoke, and total hydrocarbons.
"Concentrations all follow the same trend that we see in Calgary stations, other than the difference in magnitude," he explained. "Concentration levels in Okotoks are slightly lower than the ones in Calgary, which is again somewhat expected, because the difference in population in Okotoks makes a huge difference."
According to Dhaliwal, ozone and hydrogen concentrations in the winter are tied to emissions from the transportation sector, while particulate matter from forest fires in the summer can make its way into Okotoks based on wind.
"For now, during the winter months, fall and winter months, we're seeing pretty much same trends [in Okotoks and Calgary], just less concentration, lower concentration," he said.
According to Dhaliwal, it's still worth keeping an eye on the site to keep up with air quality in Okotoks.
"Air quality is an interesting thing nowadays, because everybody's concerned about climate change," he said. "Any seniors or anybody with a problem with asthma, they should look at [the air quality data] regularly on our website."
Okotoks has never had an air quality monitoring program of this calibre.
"It's the first time ever in the history of Okotoks when they had a lot of real-time AQHI data. It's never been reported in Okotoks before," said Dhaliwal.
Valerie Ekelund, Town of Okotoks climate change & energy specialist, highlighted the importance of the new initiative in an interview when the monitoring station first went live.
"We don't have any air monitoring currently in Okotoks that provides that information," she said. "We've been relying on nearby towns that have permanent stations, so it'll be great for us to see kind of how it varies between us and our neighbouring municipalities."
By comparing Okotoks' air quality results with data collected by permanent monitoring stations in other municipalities, the Town can decide whether there is a need for ongoing future monitoring of air quality, Ekelund said.
She said the Town was approached by CRAZ about conducting air quality monitoring, and that the Town is simply providing a site for the project, which is being jointly conducted by CRAZ and Alberta Environment and Protected Areas.
CRAZ has previously conducted air quality monitoring in Foothills County with portable air monitoring laboratories stationed in Aldersyde and High River.
Besides the Town of Okotoks and Foothills County, CRAZ's members include the cities of Calgary and Airdrie, counties of Willow Creek, Vulcan and Wheatland, improvement districts of Kananaskis and Banff, municipal districts of Rocky View and Bighorn, and the Town of Canmore.
The Calgary Region Airshed Zone is one of 10 airshed zones in Alberta, according to the Clean Air Strategic Alliance.
