Aspen Journalism
Air quality monitoring equipment on the roof of the North 40 fire station in June 2020. Pitkin County commissioned two air quality studies, both of which took samples in June and September, to help develop the understanding of baseline conditions associated with the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport.
Image courtesy of Air Resource Specialists
Air-quality studies conducted in June and September and that came out of discussions concerning the pending redevelopment of the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport returned scant evidence of hazardous air pollutants in levels high enough to harm human health.
However, studies conducted by two contractors hired by Pitkin County last spring turned up trace amounts of pollutants. But one of the reports, conducted by Air Resource Specialists (ARS) of Fort Collins, questions whether the pollutants are related to airfield operations, and notes that car traffic on Highway 82 is “likely the dominant local source of emissions near the monitoring station.”