Residents of Portland’s West End, who have been noticing pungent petroleum odors this summer, say they are relieved that the city and state are taking more aggressive steps to monitor air quality in their neighborhood.
Portland announced Friday it will partner with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to install an air quality monitoring device in the West End.
The sensor will monitor air quality 24 hours a day and will capture the same data as the monitors that are located on the other side of the Fore River in South Portland, where residents have expressed concerns about air pollution emitted by tank farms.
The DEP agreed to mount an air quality monitoring program in South Portland after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a lawsuit and consent decree in March charging Global Partners LP with violating the Clean Air Act at its petroleum terminal on the Fore River.
South Portland city officials and residents were shocked to find out that the DEP had known since 2011 that the EPA was aware of hazardous emissions from heated tanks of asphalt and No. 6 residual fuel oil, but never notified the city.
In June, the DEP agreed to install six air quality monitoring devices at various locations in South Portland. Air quality samples will be collected for several months and analyzed by the state at its Augusta lab.
Portland hopes to combine its data with South Portland in an effort to mount a regional effort that could help identify the source of any potential air quality contamination.
“I’d like to thank the Maine DEP for working together with us on this issue as we strive to ensure that our air quality in Portland is healthy,” Portland City Manager Jon Jennings said in a statement. “We are committed to collecting accurate information and data to inform our work in an effort to improve the quality of life for those who live, work and visit in Portland.”
Jessica Grondin, the city’s spokeswoman, said in addition to the air quality monitor that will be installed, Portland has incorporated an odor category into its See Click Fix customer service tool. The tool allows citizens to report air quality concerns that affect their quality of life.
Since it was created last month, more than 40 odor complaints have been reported in the West End and downtown neighborhoods.
“Strong smell of oil particulate in the air. Bedroom windows open last night and it was quite strong inside,” a West Street resident wrote in a complaint posted under the odor complaint category Saturday evening.
“There has been a growing level of concern around air quality and how it is being monitored,” said Andrew Butcher, who lives on Danforth Street in the West End and can see the tank farm from his window. “Air doesn’t know a municipal boundary.”
Butcher, who moved to the West End two years ago, is leading a word-of-mouth campaign dubbed “Smell Something, Say Something.” He and others encourage their neighbors to document where and when they smell the petroleum odor on the city’s See Click Fix site. By registering complaints, it will help the city collect data that could potentially be shared with South Portland.
“It’s a good thing that the Maine DEP is making this investment in a monitor,” Butcher said Sunday night. “But it’s a little concerning that it hasn’t happened before.”
City Councilor Spencer Thibodeau, who represents the West End, said he has grown increasingly concerned about the odor complaints. He hopes that by collecting air quality data in the West End, it can be used in more of a regional effort to identify sources of air quality contamination.
Thibodeau says there are a number of possible sources, including Fore River shipping traffic, the tank farm in South Portland, airplanes flying in and out of the Portland International Jetport, and food manufacturing businesses on St. John Street.
“The smell of oil is a quality-of-life issue. I want to gain a better understanding of what is causing this,” he said Sunday night.
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