Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services Pollution Control Division Air Monitoring Activities Bob Allen

Overview:  Who we are?  Existing air monitoring activities -Fixed ozone monitors -Neighborhood screening -Nuisance odor complaint summa canister sampling  Future air monitoring program elements  Where do we go from here?

Who we are  Local enforcement agency for Harris County since Merged with HCPHES (Harris County Health Department) in 1998  Enforce TCEQ air, water, solid waste rules and the Harris County Storm Water regulations  24 hour complaint response  Civil and criminal enforcement

Harris County’s Public Health Ozone Monitoring System When and Why:  Started 2002, 12 sites added to the regional Network  Data and notification more proximate to more citizens, health professionals, coaches and hospitals  Fill gaps in system in populated areas for modeling and animation purposes

Harris County’s Public Health Monitoring Network (con’t) How:  Locate ozone monitors in existing public buildings  SEP funding $250,000 for equipment  Installation, administration, calibration, and maintenance funded by Harris County  Data to existing TCEQ database for public access and notifications (

Harris County Public Health Ozone Monitoring Network

Neighborhood Screening  Pilot program initiated January 2005  Use Hapsite - portable GC/MS  Survey neighborhoods closest to petrochemical facilities and industrial sources  Survey sites also include nuisance odor complaint database input  Emergency Response neighborhood screening, i.e. fires, explosions

Nuisance Odor Complaint Summa Canister Sampling Program  Summa canister sample collected as part of some nuisance odor investigations  Odor must be present at the time investigation is conducted  Inherent transient nature of nuisance odors is a complicating factor  Links enforcement with health impacts

Sample results (ppbv) CompoundSumma Canister HapsiteTCEQ Short/Long term ESL (2003) Benzene /1 Toluene /50 1,2,4 Trimethylbenzene /25 Ethyl Benzene /46 Xylenes /85 1,3,5Trimethylbenzene /25 Styrene (Odor) 25/2.5 Chloroform420/2

Future Air Monitoring Program Elements  Fourier Transform Infrared System( FTIR) Fixed station located in Pasadena. Near real-time reporting of HRVOCs and secondary target list of compounds including some air toxics. Data available to TCEQ network and available to the community with the TCEQ website  Summa Canister Pre-concentrator System Enhanced air toxics and HRVOC analysis capability  Co -located Met. towers Currently one, two to be added

Where do we go from here?  Goal–reduce industrial odor complaints  Institutionalize neighborhood screening and odor driven summa canister pilot programs  Improve data analysis of both in-house and TCEQ data  Better coordination with City of Houston BAQC and TCEQ, Region 12 and Austin