UPDATE: 1:25 p.m.
The Southeast Saskatchewan Airshed Association website was showing elevated readings of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in the Oxbow area, but those have turned out to be false figures.
The Mercury has now been informed the data that was appearing on the website was the result of tests, following the Oxbow equipment going offline three days ago. Airshed executive director Terry Gibson told The Mercury the elevated readings were the result of a technician passing gases through the system via a simulation.
"It's not real data," said Gibson.
The Mercury reported this morning:
Beginning around 9 p.m. last night the H2S level in the air spiked to 10.2 parts per billion (ppb) and continues to read at that level, according to the SESAA’s Oxbow airpointer. An acceptable level is below 3.6 ppb.
Gibson said the association has been dealing with Telus and experiencing issues with the Oxbow equipment, which has been down for the last three days.
"I'm not able to verify the validity of this right now," Gibson told the Mercury earlier today.
He noted the good news is that the readings are still below the threshold of 10.8 ppb, "which is still OK."
"When it goes back online sometimes it has to settle in for a minute. It does its own aerospans and things like that," he added.
The sulphur dioxide (SO2) readings also increased at the same time to 10.5 ppb and the air quality index was reading poor as a result.
