FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 18, 2021
Contact: Andrew Bare, 720-425-2736 (mobile), andrew.bare@state.co.us;
REMOTE (Aug. 18): Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment now has a new mobile air monitoring van, which gives the department another advanced tool for monitoring emissions across the state and detecting fugitive emissions and leaks from oil and gas operations and other facilities.
“We’re excited about this new mobile monitoring van, but more importantly, we’re excited about how we can use it to help the people of Colorado,” said Shaun McGrath, director of environmental health and protection at CDPHE. “With this van, we’re now better equipped to track down fugitive emissions and, visualize and quantify emissions of methane and other pollutants.”
Funding for the mobile monitoring van comes from a fine levied last year on the oil and gas company Kerr McGee by the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in response to the tragic explosion and resulting loss of life in Firestone in April, 2017.
The new mobile monitoring van can track and trace emissions in real time while in motion, providing air quality staffers with greater flexibility and more options in finding the source of emissions.
The van will supplement the existing Colorado Air Mobile Monitoring Lab, which is a portable trailer that can be transported to an area of interest but requires an external power source and cannot monitor air quality while in motion.
Staffers with CDPHE’s Air Pollution Control Division will spend the next few weeks receiving training on the new van before placing it in active service.
“Colorado’s ambitious pollution reduction and air quality goals require high-quality data, and the new mobile monitoring van will enhance both the quality and quantity of data available to us,” said Garry Kaufman, director of the Air Pollution Control Division. “We can’t wait to take the van on the road and start analyzing emissions data.”
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