By the end of this course delegates will be able to:

• To increase industry’s awareness of the upcoming changes in the requirements for air monitoring both as part of their facility permit and for the Environmental Assessment process.
• To familiarize industry with the requirements for a cost effective monitoring program.
• To review current changes to air quality legislation/standards relating to air monitoring.
• To familiarize participants with the latest available methods and technologies for emissions and ambient level pollutant monitoring.
• To determine the most effective means of meeting monitoring, data acquisition and reporting objectives.

Regulatory drivers for air monitoring

Issues in Planning an Air Monitoring Program preparing the plan

• Baseline
• Contaminants
• Duration
• Locations
• Approval

Use of Existing Data – Setting the Context Weather and climate data

• Air quality background data
• The Federal NAPS program
• Provincial air monitoring locations
• Accessing available information
• Visualization

Case Study – a Mining EA

Baseline Monitoring Requirements for monitoring

• Typical scenarios – mining, industrial, oil & gas
• Challenges – discrete vs continuous monitoring
• Passive sampling
• QA/QC
• Correlation with existing data
• The baseline monitoring report

Air Monitoring Equipment

• Reference and equivalency methods
• Alternate methods-Qualitative vs Quantitative
• Reasons for selection

Air Monitoring Equipment II- Particulate, Metals and Criteria Gases

• Discrete monitors
• Continuous monitors
• Passive samplers
• Sampling inlets
• Instrument siting
• Meteorological monitoring stations
• Equipment maintenance

Monitoring – Construction and Remediation Projects

• Urban vs rural construction/remediation
• What contaminants should we be monitoring?
• Action levels
• Maintenance and reporting issues
• Site response
• Working with the community
• Case studies

Volatile Organics and Other Hazardous Air Pollutants Refinery or chemical production monitoring

• Continuous vs leak sources
• Monitoring as related to leak detection
• Methods and strategies

Monitoring in Remote or Difficult Conditions

• Power availability issues
• Renewable energy options
• Remote monitoring strategies
• Equipment and shelter design and maintenance
• Cold weather monitoring
• Case study

Air Monitoring Equipment III – Volatile Organics

• FID and PID EPA Method 21
• Canister sampling
• Advanced methods
• FTIR
• FLIR
• Laser systems

Airshed and Air Zone Monitoring

• Monitoring programs to date
• Provincial airshed monitoring programs
• Monitoring plan development strategy
• How does this differ from discussion so far?
• Economics of air monitoring
• The Federal AQMS program and harmonization
• New directions – the oil sands

Web-Based Air Quality Information Management 

• Databases
• Information portals
• Data visualization and reports
• Access and security
• Case study

Modeling and Monitoring

• What does the model give you?
• Comparison to monitoring
• Common myths and pitfalls
• Combined air modeling and monitoring
• Validation programs

Monitoring and Forecasts

• Predictions using models and model forecasts
• Incorporation of monitoring data
• Relation to operations data
• Planning for change
• Working with the community
• Seminar Review and Wrap-Up Session

• Plant environmental managers and plant engineers in process industries, particularly in oil and gas, mining as well and in power plants
• individuals working in maintenance departments, engineering and environmental consultants and their employees
• environment and health and safety managers in industries and federal, provincial and local government regulatory monitoring
• approval personnel engaged in transportation, environmental affairs