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Pitkin County board hears call for modern air monitoring around Aspen Airport
Summary
A community member urged the Pitkin County Board of Health to pursue state-of-the-art monitoring for aircraft-related air pollution, including ultrafine particles; staff said a contractor is preparing a monitoring plan and recommended measurement before and during a planned runway closure.
A Pitkin County resident urged the Board of Health on Jan. 16 to start state-of-the-art air quality monitoring around Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, focusing on fine and ultrafine particles released by aircraft during takeoff and landing.
Ellen Anderson, a long-time Aspen Village resident, told the board she conducted citizen science monitoring in February 2023 and “learned enough to know that it really needs to be studied by the experts.” She urged public health to “get actively involved in a state-of-the-art air quality monitoring in and around Aspen Airport,” and singled out nanoparticles as a concern because, she said, “the nanoparticles are so small, they go from your lungs into your blood, and they affect every organ in your body.”
Board members and staff discussed how to respond. Jordana (public health director) and environmental health staff said the county has engaged a consultant and refined a monitoring proposal. The county and the city environmental health office have been working with the contractor (Mead & Hunt) to define a “medium” monitoring program with options to scale up. Staff said the plan includes locations and measurements for criteria pollutants, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and — where technically feasible — ultrafine particle monitoring. They noted ultrafine-particle health standards are not yet settled and that long-term, repeated sampling will be needed to put measurements into context.
Staff said the board asked the contractor to assemble data about other airports that have undertaken monitoring or mitigation so the county can evaluate realistic interventions if elevated levels are found. County staff also said they aim to have baseline monitoring operating before a planned airport closure and repair in May so they can compare levels while operations are reduced.
Board members emphasized that aircraft emissions are only one source of valley air pollution and that highway traffic, local idling, and seasonal inversions can affect concentrations at different times. Staff said the county will coordinate monitoring with traffic camera data and prevailing-wind information to help distinguish sources.
The county did not present numeric thresholds for ultrafine particles because, staff said, federal and state standards for that size fraction do not yet exist. Officials said measured data will inform next steps and that any mitigation would be based on the evidence collected and expert guidance.
