SOER is an annual report put together by Environmental Policy Department – a department of the Town of Oakville active in many educational programs and initiatives concerning promotion of Environmental Strategic Plan (ESP). ESP was endorsed by the Oakville council in 2011.
We have examined the SOER and have a number of questions to ask in clarification of it and the related reports. We have sent a list of these questions to the Environmental Policy Department and expect to hear back from them by late March-early April. We will arrange a meeting with them at that time and we will then be able to present a more detailed analysis of these reports on the JCRA website.
SOER is based on a set of indicators in support of the following 6 goals of ESP:
1 – To sustain and enhance our natural environment
2 – To reduce resource consumption and waste production
3 – To establish and support an environmentally friendly transportation
4 – To create and support a healthy resilient community
5 – To foster environment stewardship through education and community evolvement
6 – To lead in applying best environment management practices
For more information about the SOER report please see the link below : https://securepwa.oakville.ca/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=2524&doctype=AGENDA
Ontario Air Quality Information (Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change): The Ministry of the Environment works to protect and improve air quality through legislation, targeted programs, and partnerships with other jurisdictions. The ministry has a network of 40 ambient (outside) air monitoring stations across the province that collect real-time air pollution data. This information is communicated to the public through Ontario’s Air Quality Index (AQI) and as hourly concentrations of each pollutant.
You can find information about: Air Quality Index at: http://www.airqualityontario.com/
Current pollutant concentration per city, per pollutant: http://www.airqualityontario.com/history/summary.php
Six key air pollutants monitored by the ministry as part of the AQI are:
fine particulate matter (PM2.5)
total reduced sulphur compounds
Current Oakville Air Quality Index (AQI): http://www.airqualityontario.com/reports/today.php?sites=44017 Provides a graphic on Oakville’s current air quality and classified it into very good (0-15), good, moderate, poor, very poor.
Things that we can do for the air we breathe: Kids: Things that you can do for the air we breathe: http://www.airqualityontario.com/science/kids.php
Spare the Air Action: http://www.airqualityontario.com/science/spareair.php