(a f.y.i. for lung-conscious bikies and air policy folks)
From: Jim Powell [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 11:14 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: You can act now to improve Madison air quality monitoring Great news! The Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources is proposing to install a continuous particulate matter (PM2.5) monitor on the eastside of Madison. This means, for the first time, people will know the level of particulate pollution (soot) while it happens. This, in turn, means the DNR will have better information when determining our local Air Quality Index. For people in Madison and Dane County, this means better information about air quality that will help them make decisions about activities on air advisory days when the air quality can trigger asthma attacks, etc. The DNR has proposed this real-time monitor because of citizen input. To make it a reality, more citizens need to let the DNR know that they want this. YOU CAN HELP! Submit written comments by January 31 to: Bruce Rodger C/o Air Monitoring Section Bureau of Air Management PO Box 7921 Madison, WI 53707 [EMAIL PROTECTED] State that Madison needs a continuous PM2.5 monitor to provide actual data that can be used to determine air quality in Wisconsin's second largest urban area. You may also like to list additional reasons (some are below). These comments carry a lot of weight and will help DNR stick to its proposal of placing a monitor in Madison. WHY MADISON NEEDS A CONTINUOUS PM2.5 MONITOR 1. Currently there is NO real-time monitor to particulate matter in Madison. The closest monitors are at Devil's Lake (Sauk County) and Mayville (Dodge County). This means that when all those Milwaukee/ Waukesha air advisories occur in the fall, winter and spring, and the air is bad here in Madison too, we won't get an air advisory UNLESS the soot standards are also exceeded In Dodge or Sauk Counties (because no one is measuring this air pollution on a day-to-day basis in Madison). 2. Madison needs a continuous monitor because it's the second largest urban area in the state -- protecting the air quality of where the people are is an obvious priority (and good use of resources).. 3. The eastside needs the monitor because that's where most of the pollution is in Dane County (due to industry, population and traffic density, geography, air patterns, etc.) 4. Real time monitoring of the air, in a location where pollution is typically highest in a community, is the best way to determine air quality - a vital function of the DNR and, more importantly, a vital need for citizens who may be hurt by high pollution levels -- specifically children, seniors, those with asthma and other respiratory problems (quite a large group of people, huh?). 5. The proposed continuous PM2.5 monitor would be co-located with the existing continuous ozone monitor at the East High School trailer location. DNR will thus have cost efficient place of monitors, at its own facility, and will, for the first time, have two important real-time monitors located in Madison - which will be essential for determining actual air quality for our community. Information can be found at the DNR website: <http://dnr.wi.gov/org/aw/air/MONITOR/network/review.htm> http://dnr.wi.gov/org/aw/air/MONITOR/network/review.htm . This public comment period is for the DNR's annual review of its ambient air quality monitoring network throughout Wisconsin. Remember - comments are due by January 31. JIM POWELL Please forward widely. _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
