New air quality station for Ahmadi

A new station to monitor air quality is to be installed for Ahmadi residential area within the overall plan of the Environment Public Authority (EPA) to expand its Air Quality Monitoring Department's network, an official told KUNA Sunday. The EPA's Air Quality Monitoring Department Director Ayman Bu Jebarah said the station would detect levels of pollutants including Nitrogen oxide, Sulfur oxides, Carbon oxides, Ozone, and some air-born organic matter. Since its establishment, the department worked keenly on setting up and developing its networks to monitor air quality and water quality, he said, and the plans in this regard are drafted through joint effort and collaboration among specialists, both in-house and those affiliated with other scientific and consultancy bodies in the country. The location for such stations is selected based upon criteria adopted by the World Health Organization and the accuracy of monitoring methods and protocol is assessed on weekly basis. The stations also undergo maintenance every three months through contracts with outside specialists and under supervision of its in-house experts, he pointed out. The official added the authority is on the verge of signing two new contracts with specialized bodies, one to set up an emergency plan to address any leak of industrial gaseous material. The plan would include binding risk-management and documentation guidelines for industrial establishments using or stockpiling such material. The second contract concerns monitoring of noise levels caused by the traffic across the country's highways, the activity at Kuwait International Airport, and the activity at Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Airport and perceived and measured effect on residents in nearby areas. The ultimate aim is setting up a noise-level management system to be integrated within the country's overall environmental management. The State of Kuwait, Ayman Bu Jebarah stressed, realizes the importance of stemming noise pollution to reduce harm to public health and the sought system would detect noise levels in the concerned residential areas and transmit data to information storage and analysis systems to guide decision making and to suggest action by authorities or bodies in the state, each befitting its specialization.