Rubbertown Next Generation Emissions Measurement Demonstration Project

Eben Thoma, Ingrid George, Rachelle Duvall, Tai Wu, Donald Whitaker, Karen Oliver, Shaibal Mukerjee, Halley Brantley, Jane Spann, Tiereny Bell, Njeri Carlton-Carew, Parikshit Deshmukh, Jacob Cansler, Tamira Cousett, Wei Tang, Andrea Cooley, Kyle Zimmerman, Billy DeWitt and Bryan Paris
Additional contact information
Eben Thoma: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Ingrid George: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Rachelle Duvall: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Tai Wu: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Donald Whitaker: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Karen Oliver: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Shaibal Mukerjee: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Exposure Research Laboratory, 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Halley Brantley: Former Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Engineering Fellow with EPA ORD, now with NC State University, 2311 Stinson Dr. Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
Jane Spann: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
Tiereny Bell: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
Njeri Carlton-Carew: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4, 61 Forsyth St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA
Parikshit Deshmukh: Jacobs Technology Inc., 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Jacob Cansler: Jacobs Technology Inc., 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Tamira Cousett: Jacobs Technology Inc., 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Wei Tang: Applied Research Associates Inc., 109 TW Alexander Dr., RTP, NC 27711, USA
Andrea Cooley: City of Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, 701 W. Ormsby Ave. Ste. 303, Louisville, KY 40203, USA
Kyle Zimmerman: City of Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, 701 W. Ormsby Ave. Ste. 303, Louisville, KY 40203, USA
Billy DeWitt: City of Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, 701 W. Ormsby Ave. Ste. 303, Louisville, KY 40203, USA
Bryan Paris: City of Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District, 701 W. Ormsby Ave. Ste. 303, Louisville, KY 40203, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Industrial facilities and other sources can emit air pollutants from fugitive leaks, process malfunctions and area sources that can be difficult to understand and to manage. Next generation emissions measurement (NGEM) approaches executed near facilities are enabling new ways to assess these sources and their impacts to nearby populations. This paper describes complementary uses of emerging NGEM systems in a Louisville, KY industrial district (Rubbertown), focusing on an important area air toxic, 1,3-butadiene. Over a one-year deployment starting in September 2017, two-week average passive samplers (PSs) at 11 sites showed both geospatial and temporal trends. At 0.24 ppbv annual average 1,3-butadiene concentration, a group of PSs located near facility fence lines was elevated compared to a PS group located in the community and upwind from facilities (0.07 ppbv average). Two elevated PS periods capturing emission events were examined using time-resolved NGEM approaches as case studies. In one event a 1.18 ppbv PS reading was found to be relatively localized and was caused by a multiday emission from a yet to be identified, non-facility source. In the other event, the airshed was more broadly impacted with PS concentrations ranging from 0.71 ppbv for the near-facility group to 0.46 ppbv for the community group. This case was likely influenced by a known emission event at an industrial facility. For both case studies, air pollutant and wind data from prototype NGEM systems were combined with source location models to inform the emission events. This research illustrates the power of applying NGEM approaches to improve both the understanding of emissions near sources and knowledge of impacts to near-source communities.

Keywords: fugitive emission; fenceline monitoring; NGEM; 1,3-butadiene; method 325; auto-GC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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