To help provide peace of mind for a recovering community, the West Central Airshed Society (WCAS) has taken up long-term air monitoring for Jasper.
The non-profit organization, which is responsible for monitoring and reporting outdoor air quality across west-central Alberta, replaced the Alberta government as Jasper’s main air quality data provider last October.
“We’re going to try and keep monitoring as long as we can and really just [ease]people’s mindsets to know that air is being monitored,” said Kevin McCullum, WCAS data manager. “The goal is to try and keep monitoring as long as we can.”
The GOA’s Ministry of Alberta Environment and Protected Areas ran its monitoring station for a year following the 2024 wildfire to support re-entry. When that ceased operating, almost within a day WCAS set up its own mobile station to continue providing long-term monitoring, including the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI).
McCullum said many residents now have a heightened sensitivity to air quality and having the ability to monitor the town’s air quality. It’s a comfort that he can relate to. He has Jasper friends who lost their homes in the July 2024 wildfire.
“[My friend’s] sister lost a house and he lost a house, so those are the things that really impact me as well,” McCullum said.
Before they installed a main station, WCAS previously only had two microsensors in Jasper. The main station is necessary, since it is larger and more regulated than the microsensors, which are only supplementing the monitoring.
“There’s a difference when you have a $60,000 instrument that’s giving you a reading versus a $300 instrument,” McCullum said.
The AQHI, ranked from zero to 10 plus, is primarily calculated using three air pollutants know to be harmful to humans: ground-level ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. In Alberta, the AQHI also considers sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide and total reduced sulphur.
If the AQHI value is above 10, residents are advised to avoid strenuous outdoor activity, with at-risk groups including children and the elderly.
In Jasper in 2025, most days were considered low risk (a value of one to three). Eight days were ranked high risk or very high risk (a value of seven and above), particularity during the first week of September, when wildfire smoke blew in from far north.
Although poor air quality is often associated with wildfires, McCullum explained how summertime tourism may create higher levels of vehicle emissions.
He added that while Jasper’s monitoring history is relatively short compared to other communities that have been monitored since the late 1980s, the data provides a baseline for understanding local conditions, supporting preparedness and guiding decision-making for residents, visitors and tourism operators.
Airsheds are typically funded by industry, which is required to pay fees based on emissions that go toward monitoring. Because Jasper has no local industry due to being in a national park, the WCAS will have to explore alternative means of funding, such as through government grants.
“Right now, there is no funding that’s being contributed to Jasper,” McCullum said. “It’s there right now, but how long can we keep it going without the monitoring or without the extra funding? That’s just an unknown question right now.”
WCAS will host an information session this spring so stakeholders can learn more about regional air monitoring. AQHI reporting for Jasper and other communities in the airshed is available online.
Peter Shokeir // info@thejasperlocal.com
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