EPA Monitoring Results

EPA Monitoring

• What is pollution monitoring data?

  Answer

  Pollution monitoring data is any data that is obtained as a result of a monitoring condition on a licence that relates to air, water, noise and land pollution. The data published is limited to data that relates to pollutants generated, discharged or emitted from licensed premises. Data may be received from a laboratory or obtained from a hand-held device or monitoring equipment etc.

• When are reports published?

  Answer

  The pollution monitoring data is summarised and published in monthly reports. The reports are published on the website within 14 days of all the results for the month being available. Monthly reports will be published on this website regularly (depending on when all the data is available for the month).

• Why is data not immediately available at the end of the month?

  Answer

  Some analyses can take days or weeks to complete. For example a BOD analysis takes 5 days to complete and some pesticide analyses may need to be sent to different laboratory.

• How is the data standardised?

  Answer

  Where required, data is standardised so that results are expressed in the form required by the monitoring condition specified in the relevant licence.

• How far back are there data records?

  Answer

  Monthly summary reports are available from 1 April 2012 and can be accessed online. Reports will be stored on the website for up to four years.

• Why is data not shown for some analytes?

  Answer

  In some cases the licence may require anlalytes to be monitored quarterly (four times per year), biannually (twice per year) or one annually. For some months there may be no monitoring result for particular anlaytes and thus is not reported every month.

• Why are concentration limits not shown for all pollutants?

  Answer

  In some cases the licence may not specify a concentration limit for a pollutant.

• Why are there no 50 percentile and 90 percentile figures shown on the monthly summary reports?

  Answer

  The 50 percentile and 90 percentile results are determined at the end of the 12 month licence period and are reported in the Yearly Summary Report on the website and to the EPA in the Licence Annual Return. The 100 percentile limit is applicable to all monitoring results and when specified in the licence is reported in the monthly summary reports.

• Why are three day geometric mean (3DGM) results not shown for all plants?

  Answer

  3DGM limits are not specified on all licences. In some cases 3DGM tests are required when a result has exceeded the 90 percentile limit.