By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A LOCAL university professor yesterday called for the establishment of a smoke event index, as well as the placement of smoke monitoring systems throughout New Providence to better equip the capital with the means by which to better assess hazards caused by the recurring fires at the New Providence Landfill.

Dr Danny Davis, assistant professor of chemistry, environmental and life sciences and director of institutional strengthening at the University of the Bahamas, said the establishment of a smoke event index (SEI), augmented with readings from smoke monitoring systems, would hypothetically reduce the likelihood of New Providence residents “being arbitrary on how we reflect on these events”.

The SEI, Dr Davis said, would allow for residents to be able to gauge the intensity of smoke emanating from a fire burning anywhere in the capital in particular, by establishing a scale from zero to 10 - zero representing a “normal clear day” and 10 representing the March 5 landfill fire, which has been considered to be the worst blaze to hit the dump.

In doing so, Dr Davis said residents - hypothetically - would be able to gauge the intensity of smoke emanating from a fire and take the necessary steps to protect themselves, their families and hopefully their belongings, without necessarily “having a science background”.

As for the monitoring systems, Dr Davis said while he could not say just how much New Providence might actually need, if secured they should be placed not just around the dump, but throughout the residential, commercial and tourist-friendly areas of the island.

“The range for clear smoke days would be zero, and the maximum for this smoke index will be the 10 which you correlate to the March 5 smoke event,” Dr Davis proposed. “All other events that happen after this, whether it be a dump fire or whether it be the place on Soldier Road on fire or houses on fire, whatever it is, with a network of monitors, you can now determine the severity of any smoke event relative to the March 5 smoke event.

“So we can now talk about how bad a smoke event was in reference to the March 5 smoke event … We’re not in fact being arbitrary on how we reflect on these events.

“What it does, it gives the public something that they can relate to without having a science background,” he added. “You can see an index value of zero and things are well, you can see an index value of 10 therefore you should take some precautionary steps. That’s what an index does. An index makes it digestible for everyone. And in this instance I’m proposing a smoke index because that’s the only thing I have the capability of measuring today.”

Dr Davis was speaking during a Research Edge Forum on the New Providence Landfill fires and air quality monitoring at the University of the Bahamas’ Harry C Moore Library yesterday morning.

The previous day, he revealed that an initial assessment of air quality around the Aquinas College campus showed a substantial reduction in air quality on days when smoke is in the area - in some cases 71 times worse than on clear days.

As a result of the reccurring fires at the city dump, environmentalists associated with the school viewed the campus as a prime location to carry out an extended study on air quality.

In November, officials outfitted the schools with a nephelometer to monitor air quality at the campus.

Readings showed a need for officials to add wind gauges and several other weather apparatus to its system, all formatted to measure, assess and document smoke and air trends at the school and its surrounding area day-to-day.

Dr Davis said yesterday that in the absence of an official report, the March 5 fire was the “worst” fire to hit the New Providence landfill, based on the number of school days lost by Aquinas and other nearby schools, as well as the fact that residents had to be evacuated from their homes.

He asked: “So in terms of getting some real attention to what’s going on, the question is the fact that we have to close schools for extended periods, is the fact that we had to evacuate a whole area - is that sufficient for us to (re-evaluate) how we’re doing things?

“Will this be our tipping point and we change the way that we approach this issue?”

When asked how much it could potentially cost to outfit New Providence with smoke monitoring systems, Dr Davis said: “When we talk about the cost of a monitoring system, I would like to reshape the question. Let’s talk about the return on the investment. What is it costing us not to have a monitoring system? What is it costing us not to have a smoke index? What is it costing us not to have an air quality index? It doesn’t matter whether or not we spending $100,000 on a monitoring network, the thing is what is the return we’re getting from the $100,000?

“And I predict the return is going to be multiple times more than what the cost of the network is going to be. So let’s not distract the public, let’s not distract ourselves on what the upfront cost is, let’s look at the return we’re going to get for money well spent. A monitoring station for particulate matter, for other components of smoke and pollution is money well spent.”