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Rubbertown NGEM Demonstration Project and Odor App Project: Update Meeting #7, West Jefferson County Community Task Force (WJCCTF)
Citation:
Duvall, R., E. Thoma, AND I. George. Rubbertown NGEM Demonstration Project and Odor App Project: Update Meeting #7, West Jefferson County Community Task Force (WJCCTF). West Jefferson County Community Task Force Meeting, Louisville, KY, April 20, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
Energy production operations, refineries, chemical plants, and other industries and waste facilities can emit air pollutants and odorous compounds from fugitive leaks, process malfunctions, and area sources that are hard to detect and manage. Improved understanding of stochastic industrial sources (SIS) can yield many benefits such as safer working environments, cost savings through reduced product loss, lower airshed impacts, and improved community relations. The emergence of lower cost air sensors and inverse modeling approaches is enabling new cost-effective ways to detect and analyze SIS emissions. Under its next generation emissions measurement (NGEM) program, EPA is working with a range of partners to develop and test NGEM tools that can assist facilities in detection and management of sources. Additionally, EPA is studying approaches to understand odors related to fugitive emissions. This research contributes to the general advancement and communication of NGEM concepts. Groups that would be interested or could apply the results from this research include state/local/tribal agencies, communities, EPA Regional Offices, other federal agencies, and industry.
Description:
EPA and the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District (APCD) are working together to test new approaches to better understand and manage emissions from industry. This effort called the “Rubbertown Next Generation Emissions Measurement (NGEM) Demonstration Project”, ran from September 2017 to January 2020. The project is described in following Science in Action fact sheet (https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-09/documents/rubbertown_ngem_external_science_in_action_final_draft_090517.pdf). Periodically EPA meets with interested parties in Louisville to provide an update on the project. On April 20th, CEMM/AMCD's Rachelle Duvall (on behalf of the team) will present an update on the project for a local community group. The attached slides will be used for this meetings and provide a general update on progress, select interim findings, and potential future research directions. This is the 7th such update since the project inception.