Metro Vancouver introduced the newest tool in its fight against air pollution today, the brand new $282,000 Mobile Air Monitoring Unit, or MAMU.
Heather Deal, chair of Metro Vancouver's environment and parks committee, and Ken Reid, the organization's superintendent of environmental sampling and monitoring, answered questions about the new vehicle at the unveiling April 11.
Reid said the new vehicle will fill any gaps that may appear between the 26 monitoring stations spread out across the region. The mobile unit allows Metro Vancouver to respond to different air quality emergencies, much like the previous model did in 2005, attending to the Burns Bog fire in Delta.
The old mobile unit was 25 years old and had reached its end of service when Metro Vancouver decided to buy the new vehicle. Some key features are the electric powered equipment and the ability to run on low power while testing, Reid said.
Both Reid and Deal said they were excited to have a new unit that will be able to investigate changes in air quality at a more localized level, including diesel fuel emissions from increased truck traffic.
"The new scientific instruments in the new MAMU will help air quality experts better assess real and perceived air quality problems. We can, in turn, make better informed decisions to protect our air quality," Deal said, in a press release.
The new unit will return to the shop for more outfitting before its first assignment.
