The Fairbanks North Star Borough is unveiling a new air quality app for mobile phones and devices. The app is intended to drive up public awareness of local air quality and assist reporting concerns.
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Ron Lovell is the Fairbanks Borough’s air quality manager. He says the new smartphone application allows users to check out air quality at five sites around the borough, see if there are burn restrictions, and scope out current weather conditions.
“So it kind of turns into a one-stop shop where an individual can see what the concentrations are, any burn restrictions that are in place and how it might affect them at their residence.”
Lovell says personal computer users can access the app using web browsers. He adds, there is a link on the app if users see a troubling event.
“An individual can go to the DEC website to see trending data, or they can go to the Borough’s main website, to the complaint portal, so they can fill out a complaint directly from their phone.”
The bottom line, says Lovell, is to raise public awareness and stay compliant with federal standards. He says the borough’s website has steadily drawn people to it as winter has set in. In September just over 500 people visited and by December that number had risen to more than 12,000.
