Monitoring Interstate Pollutant Transport Using Mountaintop Measurements

Mountaintop measurementsThe Department of the Environment operates an air monitoring site located near Frostburg, MD called Piney Run.  This site has been established since 2004. The elevation of the Piney Run site is 781 meters (2,563 feet) above mean-sea-level.  This site is on top of a local mountain peak at the Piney Reservoir, amongst other peaks on the Allegheny Plateau in Garrett County.  The purpose of this monitoring site is to track the impact of interstate pollutant transport on air quality in Maryland.  The location is considered ideal for measuring regional background pollutants due to its high elevation and rural setting in the State's western boundary. 

Piney Run is part of several national monitoring networks including the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE), the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP), the National Trends Network (NTN), and the Mercury Deposition Network (MDN). Piney Run was also a part of the Rural Aerosol Intensive Network (RAIN) which focused on haze-related measurements in partnership by the Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Visibility Union (MANE-VU) regional planning organization. However, RAIN no longer exists as a formal entity.

 

More on the Air Monitoring Network

 

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact Janice Lafon at 410-537-3280 or e-mail at janice.lafon@maryland.gov so that she may direct your inquiry.


Logo

Human Trafficking GET HELP

National Human Trafficking Hotline - 24/7 Confidential

1-888-373-7888 233733 More Information on human trafficking in Maryland

Customer Service Promise

The State of Maryland pledges to provide constituents, businesses, customers, and stakeholders with friendly and courteous, timely and responsive, accurate and consistent, accessible and convenient, and truthful and transparent services.

Take Our Survey

Help Stop Fraud in State Government

The Maryland General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Audits operates a toll-free fraud hotline to receive allegations of fraud and/or abuse of State government resources. Previous reports have led to elimination of fraud.

More Information