News Release 582

DEPARTMENT RECEIVES $492,000 GRANT FOR ADDITIONAL
AIR MONITORING STATIONS IN ST. LOUIS

Volume 35-582

Contact: Renee Bungart

(For immediate release)

573-751-4465

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, DEC. 17, 2007 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has been awarded a $491,842 grant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 to help identify and more accurately define the impact of local hazardous air pollutants in the St. Louis region.

The department will use the grant to set up additional air monitoring stations in the St. Louis area. Conducting this additional monitoring will allow the department to collect more robust data to understand the behavior and variability of air toxic metals such as arsenic. The monitoring will also help identify multiple industrial and other area source releases of arsenic compounds and other metals that have been difficult to estimate and include in emissions inventories.

The project will help discern where and under what conditions the highest levels of certain metals are occurring and increase the Department of Natural Resources' ability to determine what sources may be causing them. Determining sources of toxic air emissions will assist the department in implementing control measures to protect air quality in Missouri.

"Using this grant money to gather additional data on the behavior of these air pollutants will not only benefit Missouri but also other states with similar air quality issues," said Leanne Tippett Mosby, deputy director of the department's Division of Environmental Quality.  "Having better information will enhance our ability to make informed choices to protect air quality and public health."

Sampling will initially be conducted at the Blair Street site in St. Louis, with subsequent locations determined based on results from the first round of monitoring. Overall project planning, field measurement and data analysis will be conducted by the department. The Department of Natural Resources has awarded a $117,778 subgrant to Washington University in St. Louis to assist with the project.  Washington University will perform chemical analysis, source determinations analysis and assist with the study design. The university's familiarity with lab analytical techniques pertinent to this project and an acquired expertise in source characterization will be of great benefit to the department on this project.

For more information on this grant for additional air monitoring stations in the St. Louis area, contact the department's Air Pollution Control Program at 573-751-4817 or 800-361-4827.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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