LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Scattered around Louisville are five air quality monitoring sites, which collect air samples several times daily and send that data to the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District.
The agency’s hard work has caught the eye of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“Samples of air come through these inlets here and are pulled down into the shelter where a variety of equipment, using a variety of technology depending on the pollutant, analyze the air samples and tell us what’s in the air,” said Matt Mudd, air pollution district communications coordinator.
Mudd said the district recently finished a research project with the EPA that tested next-generation air monitoring devices.
“One of which is equipment that’s used at the fence line of facilities that is a canister that can be triggered when it notices, say, a spike in the amount of air pollution that’s in the air, and it can collect a sample there,” Mudd said.
The EPA announced in April new guidance for industrial facilities that require similar monitoring devices to what was tested in Louisville. It’s likely the federal agency used what they learned in Kentucky to craft the new rules.
“An area like Rubbertown is one that’s long been an area of concern for residents, so it definitely speaks to both our desire to get more work done and residents' feedback on what matters to them,” Mudd said.
There are no current research projects underway at the air pollution district, but staff said another one with the EPA is expected to begin soon. It will study the potential health effects of past and present air pollution on West Louisville residents.