The purchase of the expensive equipment was made possible with the support of GIZ Ukraine as part of the project “Fair Transformation of Coal Regions and Green Recovery of Ukraine’s Energy Sector”.
According to Ihor Kravets, Head of the Permitting and Monitoring Division of the Department of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Lviv Regional State Administration, the station will measure pollutants in the city area.
“Nitrogen oxides, carbon oxides, sulphur dioxide, dust particles and ozone are the main substances that are set out in the procedure developed to implement European Union Directive 2850 and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Based on the results of the monitoring, we will see the impact of air masses from the main polluters in the community – enterprises. Four indicative stations have already been installed in Boryslav, Stryi, Rava-Ruska and Sokilnyky and are currently operating in test mode.
After the installation of two more stations in Sheptytske and Dobrotvir, the contractors will install a software and analytical complex to connect all the stations. Thus, when the entire network is operational, we will be able to monitor the impact of pollutants in the entire Lviv region,” said Ihor Kravets.
Air quality indicators can be monitored online around the clock, and in case of exceedances, the authorities will develop plans to improve air quality to reduce the negative impact on people and the environment, said Ihor Kravets. In addition to air quality indicators, the station will also measure meta-parameters such as air temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction, and humidity.
On 28 October, representatives of Eknis-Engineering LLC, the company that will install the air quality monitoring equipment, paid a working visit to Sheptytsky. The guests inspected several locations for the station – on the territory of the Shakhtar sports complex, Gymnasium No. 3 and the hospital campus.
The company’s engineers will now discuss these options and determine the final location for the equipment.