Strathcona Air Quality Forum - Agenda
This free event will be held 1pm - 4pm on Sunday September 29th at the nə́c̓aʔmat ct Strathcona Branch Library (Located on East Hastings Street between Heatley Avenue and Hawks Avenue. )
Speakers include:
- Dr. Naomi Zimmerman - UBC Air Quality Scientist - Director of the iREACH Lab (Integrated Research in Energy, Air, Climate & Health)
- Jean Swanson, Councillor for the City of Vancouver
- Brian Beveridge - Co-Director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project
- Ken Reid, Superintendent, Environmental Sampling and Monitoring, Air Quality and Climate Change, Metro Vancouver
- John Linder, Air Quality Planner, Metro Vancouver
- Trefor Smith - Environment Lead for the Strathcona Residents Association
1. Welcome and Introductions (1pm)
2. Trefor Smith - Environment Lead for the Strathcona Residents Association (1:05pm - 1:30pm)
Re: General context of increasing air emissions in Strathcona:
- Expansion of port container shipping operations adjacent to and through the neighbourhood via rail and road
- Twinning of the Burrard Inlet CN Railway Line, doubling of diesel trucks associated with the Port along Clark Street
- Proposal to convert Prior Street into the new main road arterial - Burrard Inlet Line Overpass Project, aka Flats Arterial
(15-minute presentation and 10 minutes Q&A)
2. Ken Reid and John Lindner, Air Quality and Climate Change, Metro Vancouver (1:30pm - 1:55pm)
- Metro Vancouver’s role in air quality monitoring, the air quality monitoring network and air quality monitoring in and near Strathcona
- Near-road air quality monitoring study (Clark Drive)
- Air Aware small sensor project
- Development of Metro Vancouver’s Clean Air Plan
3. City of Vancouver Councillor Jean Swanson, (1:55pm - 2:15pm)
Councillor Swanson will speak to:
- Air quality impacts of arterial roadways and her recent motion (that was adopted as a resolution by council) related to adverse health effects from pollution associated with road arterials
- Steps the City could take to reduce potential health effects of air pollution from road arterials when making planning decisions.
(10-minute presentation and 10 minutes Q&A)
4. Video on Air Quality and Health in Canadian Cities (Segments from “Something in the Air”) (2:15pm-2:30pm)
(15 minutes)
2:30 pm - 2:45pm (15-minutes) break for tea and coffee
4. Dr. Naomi Zimmerman - UBC Air Quality Scientist – Professor and Director of the iREACH Lab (Integrated Research in Energy, Air, Climate & Health) at UBC (2:45 pm-3:15pm)
Professor Zimmerman will speak on:
- air quality monitoring research and her work at UBC
- her experience and advice for working with lower cost air quality monitors
- areas of interest where she will be conducting research in the region.
(15-minute presentation and 15 minutes Q&A)
5. Brian Beveridge - Co-Director, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (via Skype) - 3:15pm - 3:45pm
Brian will speak on similarities between West Oakland, California and Strathcona as communities challenged by air quality issues from port activities and major national trade transportation arterials, including:
- what Strathcona can learn from West Oakland’s experience of community based AQ monitoring programs, community research partnerships (with government and universities) and community air quality planning
- how all these approaches can help an urban community begin to regain control over the air emissions its residents are exposed to.
(15-minute presentation and 15 minutes Q&A)
6. Closing - Trefor Smith, SRA - What’s next? (3:45pm - 4:00pm)
- How to get involved in improving Air Quality in Strathcona!
- Working with partners to monitor AQ and advocate for best practices
- Learn about the proposed AQ monitoring project!