Air Toxics Monitoring Program

TO-15 Monitoring Program

Using sampling Method TO-15, the Department of Environmental Protection currently collects 24-hour canister samples every six days at the following sites in Maine:

Rumford - Rumford Avenue Parking Lot;
Lewiston - Country Kitchen Parking Lot on Canal Street;
Portland - EMPACT site on Marginal Way;
Bangor - Kenduskeag Pump Station on Washington Street; and
Presque Isle - Riverside Street.

The Maine DEP is currently using Selected Ion Monitoring (SIM) mode on the Gas-Chromatograph, Mass-Spectrometer (GC/MS) and are analyzing the samples collected at these sites for select hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Newly installed computer software will speed up the process of entering of this data into a database, resulting in a quicker review of data collected from these sites.

Based on these data, the Maine DEP has published a draft air toxics monitoring report for public comment, entitled: Maine DEP's Ambient Air Toxics Monitoring Program in Rumford/Mexico, Maine1997 – 2003, Revision of October 28, 2004.

BEAM program

In 1999, Maine DEP installed a UV monitoring device in Portland, known as the EMPACT project, or BEAM (Breathing Easier through Air Monitoring). The device is an open path monitoring system (OPSIS Ultra-Violet Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy or UV-DOAS). At the Portland EMPACT site, MEDEP is monitoring, on an hourly basis, levels of benzene, toluene, m,o, and p-xylene, phenol, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. These results may be viewed on the BEAM web site at http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/beam/.

PAMS Monitoring

Maine DEP collects ambient air samples in order to look for ozone precursors at Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS). The PAMS in Maine are located at the Two Lights State Park site in Cape Elizabeth and the Cadillac Mountain site in Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor. Samples are collected during the PAMS season (June, July and August) and, weather permitting, during May and September. Using the GCs operated for the PAMS program, MEDEP is analyzing for eight HAPs: n-Hexane; Benzene; 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane; Toluene; Ethylbenzene; Styrene; o-Xylene; and Isopropylbenzene. More information on the PAMS monitoring program is available at http://www.maine.gov/dep/air/monitoring/photochem.htm.

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