Arkansas National Guard to monitor air near stump dump site

Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Smoke fills the air alongside Trafalgar Road on a cool, humid day.
Keith Bryant/The Weekly Vista Smoke fills the air alongside Trafalgar Road on a cool, humid day.

The 61st Civil Support Team from the Arkansas National Guard will begin conducting air monitoring tests at the Trafalgar Site in Bella Vista Tuesday, February 26.

The team will monitor the air in the community immediately adjacent the site, according to a release from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

"The 61st CST has state-of-the-art, air-monitoring equipment with real time data collection capabilities," Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Director Becky W. Keogh stated in the release. "ADEQ is grateful to partner with the Arkansas National Guard to deliver this important information regarding air quality for those impacted by the smoke from the underground fire."

Monitoring stations will be placed at the site of previous EPA monitoring, according to the release.

Data will only be collected during daylight hours. The data will be sent to the Arkansas Department of Health at the end of each day.

After a period of data collection, the 61st Civil Support Team will have one or more experts at the site each day during the remediation process.

According to the state Department of Emergency Management, a private contractor is responsible for air monitoring within the dump site itself.

NW News on 02/24/2019

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