Timnath gets new air quality monitoring station to track ozone

A new air quality monitoring station was unveiled at Bethke Elementary School in Timnath on Friday, June 28.

The station will monitor ground-level ozone and nitrogen oxide in real time, according to a news release.

"This new air quality monitoring station represents a major step forward in our commitment to protecting public health,” Larimer County Public Health Director Tom Gonzales said in the release. “By providing accurate and timely information, we can take proactive measures to ensure cleaner air for our community, especially for our children who are most vulnerable to air pollution."

The Denver Metro/North Front Range area has been out of compliance with Environmental Protection Agency ozone standards for several years. In 2022, the EPA downgraded the nonattainment classification in the region from “serious” to “severe.”

Exposure to ozone is associated with “increased asthma attacks, increased hospital admissions, increased daily mortality, and other markers of morbidity,” according to the EPA. Symptoms include coughing, throat irritation, chest pain and shortness of breath.

Why was Bethke Elementary School selected as a site?

The Timnath location for the new station was chosen for a few reasons.

“The monitor shouldn't be too close to major transportation corridors, or other potential sources of pollution that will skew the data. Since the monitor is intended to give a picture of air quality for a region it needs a location that is representative,” Kori Wilford, the county’s communications and technology manager, told the Coloradoan over email.

This site, which is farther east and south than other monitors, will also help the county understand how ozone and NOx levels change as they move west into Fort Collins.

“We would like to see if there are trends based on weather and temperature patterns that see high or low ozone at this monitor based on impacts from I-25, Weld County, and other sources east of where any other data is currently being collected,” Wilford said.

When will the data be available and can I access it?

The station will begin monitoring in July but data won’t be available until later this fall as the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment “will take some time to review initial data for quality before it begins publicly reporting,” Wilford said.

The county is also planning another site in Loveland to be on and recording data in August/September.

Once initial data has been validated, the public will be able to access data from both stations on the AirNow website.

What will the county do with this data?

Wilford said the monitoring stations will inform the county on how air pollution forms and moves in the region.

“By enhancing the data we have and analyzing it with weather patterns we hope to identify trends that would allow us to be more proactive in alerting the community if conditions conducive to higher levels of air pollution are present,” Wilford said.

Ed Behan, the media and outreach liaison at the Larimer Alliance, said the organization views this collaboration between the county and the state as a very positive development. Behan added gathering data is important, but it needs to be paired with action to reduce emissions.

“Our main concern is there's a lot of data out there about the poor air quality along the Front Range. But it still seems to us here in the Alliance that the relevant agencies are slow to act,” Behan said.

Statewide efforts

Earlier this year, the state passed legislation geared toward different sectors that contribute to ozone pollution.

In February, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission unanimously approved a regulation to limit the use of certain gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment.

In May, the Colorado General Assembly passed a bill that sets NOx emissions reduction targets for upstream oil and gas operations; it gives the state more authority to revoke licenses and to hand out larger fines to violators; and it increases the funding to the state’s program to mitigate abandoned and low-producing wells.

While these have been called a step in the right direction, advocates and other people involved agreed there’s more work to be done to tackle the nonattainment, according to previous Coloradoan reporting.