California air-quality board begins petroleum-source study

Nov. 14, 2017
The California Air Resources Board formally began its study of neighborhood air near petroleum sources, or SNAPS, as it launched a web site on Nov. 13 and prepared to hold its first public meeting a day later. The Nov. 14 meeting will be held at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Sacramento.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) formally began its study of neighborhood air near petroleum sources, or SNAPS, as it launched a web site on Nov. 13 and prepared to hold its first public meeting a day later. The Nov. 14 meeting will be held at the California Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Sacramento.

SNAPS will include limited-term, intensive air-quality monitoring near oil and gas production, transportation, and storage sites within the state, with a particular focus on production, CARB said.

The program will use mobile monitoring trailers equipped with state-of-the-art technologies to measure toxic air contaminants, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, metals, and criteria pollutants, it said.

The trailers will be deployed initially in communities to collect preliminary screening data and to respond quickly to events statewide where near-immediate air monitoring is warranted, CARB said. Its staff will use that information as well as other criteria, including community concerns, to locate stationary trailers at a site for several months.

Staff members then will analyze air-quality measurements to identify potential areas of elevated health risk within the community. Where appropriate, CARB said that California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment will perform a more in-depth health analysis, potentially including a risk assessment.

CARB’s staff will post real-time air-monitoring data and publish the analysis of results for each site in a report. It also will share the results with communities in local meetings.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].