• Specialty

  Air Quality
  

• SECTOR

  Public Health
  

• TYPE

  Environmental Study
  

• CLIENTELE

  Private Sector
  

• TIMESPAN

  2009

• LOCATION

  Spring Valley, WI

Outdoor Wood Boiler Air Quality Assessment

SERVICE:

Air Quality Impact Assessment for Litigation

DESCRIPTION:

Tech Environmental was retained by State Farm Insurance Company to provide technical support in response to a lawsuit filed by an abutting neigbor against a homeowner who operated an Outdoor Wood Boiler (OWB), claiming that high concentrations of particulate matter were impacting their property.

Tech reviewed the PM2.5 air monitoring data collected with a dust monitor on the property of the complainant. Tech provided expert testimony at the trial, refuting the claims that high concentrations of PM2.5 were impacting the abutter. Tech's review of the monitoring and meteorological data found that the PM2.5 measurements were invalid because the monitoring equipment was not calibrated to the combustion aerosol produced by an OWB; measurements were conducted in conditions of high humidity; dust monitor was improperly operated, causing data bias; and an examination of wind direction versus PM2.5 showed no correlation between wind direction and the plume in the direction of the abutting property.

 

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Key Points

• State Farm Insurance Company retained Tech to provide technical support in response to a lawsuit regarding PM2.5 emissions from an outdoor wood boiler (OWB).
• Tech provided expert testimony at the trial, refuting the claims of the complainant's expert.