DALTON, Mass. — For more than a year, neighbors of Berkshire Concrete's unauthorized dig site have complained that sand drifting into their neighborhood is affecting their air quality.

 

A five-month study is providing data that may support these claims.

 

Air Partners Collaborative of Needham monitored the air quality over five months — from October to April — using a network of monitoring sensors at strategic locations surrounding the site. 

 

Sensors were positioned west and southeast of the site at four locations: Raymond Drive, Off Prospect Street, Renee Drive, and the shooting range 80 meters northwest of the site to provide background measurements for the northwesterly winds. 

 

During the observation period, it was determined that Dalton is experiencing "extreme events of coarse particulate matter, with an aerodynamic diameter of 10 micrometers (PM10)

 

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM10 is 150 micrograms per cubic meter within a 24-hour period, the report says. But Dalton is seeing concentrations reaching 1,000 to 10,000 micrograms per cubic meter during individual events. This is seven to 67 times the national standards.

 

The wind direction analysis indicates that 10 of the 12 exceedance events, or 83 percent, suggest the digsite may be contributing to the issue, but this cannot be proved with certainty.