East End Air Monitoring 'Private'
August 5, 2005

City councillors are asking that private air monitoring data be released to the public. The provincial Conservative government shut down their east Hamilton air monitoring station nine years ago this month, citing the need to reduce costs, but it has now been revealed that the province is receiving extensive private air monitoring reports that are not made available to residents.

Director of Long Range Planning Paul Mason told members of the planning committee that unnamed private companies and landowners have been ordered to collect air quality information and supply it to the ministry. "The companies and property owners who have been ordered by MOE to supply data, own that data," Mason said, "and they supply it to MOE to show that they are in compliance with the orders that have been imposed."

That prompted councillor east end councillor Sam Merulla to move a motion "to encourage the ministry or somehow have the ministry release that data to us on a regular basis, quarterly would be nice." It was approved by the committee and goes to city council next Wednesday.

The revelation of the private air monitoring occurred in a discussion of a proposal for Hamilton to join the GTA Clean Air Council and participate in joint studies of air pollution. Ward one councillor Brian McHattie applauded the move, but suggested the lack of an east end monitoring station could reduce the value of the investigations. "We only have three monitoring stations for the whole city at this point", he noted, with nothing east of downtown.

The staff report on the GTA Clean Air Council can be examined at
http://www.city.hamilton.on.ca/clerk/agendas-minutes-reports/
Planning-Economic-Development/2005/Aug02/PED05060.pdf