This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
The air quality around Rawlins will be monitored over the next year. This comes after a national group flagged surrounding areas for compromised air quality.
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Air Quality Division (AQD) placed a mobile testing unit near the Rawlins Family Recreation Center, which is downwind of oil and gas operations.
“The primary objective of this effort is to ensure monitoring remains sufficient downwind of oil and gas development,” according to a DEQ press release.
DEQ’s daily air quality data will be available in real time on their website. It’ll show levels for nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and methane/non-methane hydrocarbons.
The agency will also host an open house for the air quality unit on Dec. 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., off the footpath behind the Rawlins Family Recreation Center.
DEQ’s mobile testing units are rotated periodically around the state and typically stay in place for a year.
Rawlins is in southcentral Wyoming in Carbon County. It’s just east of major oil and gas infrastructure that sits closer to the neighboring town of Wamsutter.
The American Lung Association (ALA) gives cities and counties across the country letter grades based on the area’s number of high ozone and particle pollution days, and it assesses the impacts to the community. The group didn’t analyze Carbon County, but nearby areas received low grades.
Sweetwater and Albany counties were given an ‘F’ air quality grade. The ALA said if you live in these areas, “the air you breathe may put your health at risk.”
Additionally, Natrona County received a ‘C’ grade, which the ALA said means the air “needs support.”
