NEWS RELEASE
CITY OF LONGMONT
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In its ongoing efforts to promote environmental health and safety, the Longmont City Council adopted a citywide sustainability plan in 2016. Part of the plan focuses on an air quality program designed to monitor Longmont’s air quality and to understand sources of pollutants.
For the past two and a half years, an air quality monitoring station has been in operation on the south side of Longmont’s Vance Brand Airport. Due to future construction at the airport site, the station is moving to a new location north of your residence, near the bike trail on the east end of the Lykins Gulch Greenway.
The station will consists of a small trailer (approximately 8 feet x 10 feet) and a 30- foot tall steel tower. When installed, the tower will be the approximate height of the existing power lines in the area. A new chain link fence will completely surround the air monitoring equipment.
The project and location has been reviewed and approved by city planners and is not expected to have a negative physical or visual impact on you or the neighborhood. Please see the attached aerial map of the planned location.
This project is scheduled to begin the week of October 4, 2021. Longmont Power and Communications will start by extending the power line from a transformer near Rogers Road to the site of the new station. The new line will be completely underground. This part of the project is estimated to take five to seven days, once work commences. All work will take place Monday through Friday during regular business hours should not cause any disruption to your existing service. Shortly thereafter, the station fencing will be installed and the air quality trailer and tower will be installed. We estimate that the entire project will be completed by the end of October 2021.
The air monitors which will be moved to Lykins Gulch will track the presence of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. A second air monitoring station is currently located at Union Reservoir, which measures both greenhouse gases and a variety of oil and gas-related pollutants. Both stations are operated by the City’s contractor Boulder AIR. The data gathered at the two stations is available in near real-time to interested residents at www.bouldair.com/longmont.htm.
By gathering this important information, the City hopes to keep the community informed about general local air quality, help scientists better understand what is causing air quality issues on the Front Range, and monitor greenhouse gases and their impact on our environment.
This project provides vital information to our community and supports the City Council’s overall efforts towards a sustainable community. We do not anticipate any significant sound or visibility impacts to you or your neighborhood from the station.
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