Superintendent John Woudzia told the board of education at a recent meeting that he is in talks with Metro Vancouver about air quality testing at local schools.
The superintendent told the board that two years ago, Metro Vancouver, which monitors air quality in the region, told him that air quality testing specifically at schools - at the urging of school districts - wasn't in its mandate.
But that may have changed with the pending Pattullo Bridge replacement project.
"We are exploring the possibility," Woudzia said about air quality testing at schools. "If it's possible, the school district will explore what that looks like."
The board also heard at its April 3 meeting that parents from Lord Tweedsmuir and John Robson elementary schools are concerned about traffic and air quality at their schools. Both schools want baseline testing done before the bridge is built to determine the impact on traffic and air quality in New Westminster.
Parents have been raising concerns over traffic and air quality and asking for testing for more than two years.
Under provincial legislation, Metro Vancouver is responsible for monitoring air quality in the region, controlling industrial, commercial and some residential emissions.
Bill Morrell, media relations and issues management division manager for Metro Vancouver, said in 2010 when The Record first reported this story, that air quality in Metro Vancouver is generally always good.
There can be ozone issues, but they rarely show up in the city, he said.
"We have the sea breeze, it keeps the air moving," Morrell said.
Metro Vancouver monitors the ambient air in Metro Vancouver constantly from monitoring stations throughout the region. The results of the monitoring are posted in real time on its website.
"It's ambient air quality we are measuring," Morrell said. "Clearly, if you are half a block off the freeway, you are going to expect more contaminants, more pollutants than someone living farther away from the freeway."
There isn't a specific monitoring station for New Westminster - the nearest one is in South Burnaby, but Metro Vancouver has a mobile air monitoring unit.
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