Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) Secretary Chuck Carr Brown announced last week that the agency has accepted delivery of two new Mobile Air Monitoring Laboratory (MAML) vehicles. LDEQ’s current MAML is still an effective resource but it is aging, Brown notes. “These new MAMLs will greatly enhance LDEQ’s ability to respond to air quality issues across Louisiana and will allow us to sample and analyze air quality data onsite and in real-time.”
Settlements of civil penalties covered the $1.4 million price tag for one of the vehicles and $1.5 million for the second MAML. “They have all the bells and whistles – gas chromatograph, reduced sulfur compounds analyzer, methane/nonmethane analyzer, and more,” says Roger Gingles, LDEQ Assistant Secretary for Environmental Assessment. “They have all the capabilities of the MAML we have now, testing for all criteria pollutants — ground-level ozone, particle pollution, lead, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide, as well as hydrogen sulfide, methane, ammonia, speciated reduced sulfur compounds, speciated hydrocarbons, and atmospheric mercury.”
The vehicles are mounted on a 35-foot truck chassis with a custom body to house equipment, supplies, and work gear with benches.
