Editor’s Note: The following is from a news release issued by the Allegheny County Health Department Thursday morning.
The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) announced on Thursday morning that its air quality monitor network has been updated to remove the Lincoln air quality monitor.
The site was first installed in 1993 to collect data on PM 10 to measure compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set by the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2011, the department installed a PM 2.5 monitor to collect data for a study that compared levels of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) to larger particulate matter (PM 10).
The study concluded years ago, but the PM 2.5 monitor continued to operate. Concentrations of PM 10 have been generally declining since 1997, and there has not been a violation of the PM 10 NAAQS at that site since 1997. The most recent exceedance of the PM 10 NAAQS at the Lincoln site was in 2005.
The Lincoln monitoring site was on a hill on private property near Clairton. Trees surrounding the site became overgrown and blocked airflow to the site, causing it to no longer meet regulatory requirements for air quality monitoring sites. PM 10 monitors continue to operate in Liberty, Clairton, Glassport, and North Braddock. PM 2.5 is measured in the Mon Valley at three of the four sites (Glassport being the exception).
Beginning immediately, the Lincoln monitor will no longer appear on the Air Quality dashboard. The monitor was taken offline last week and dismantled.