'smells like strong cat pee': smartphone app tracks oilsands odour complaints - top quality air purifiers

Melinda Stewart smells smoke from nearby oil sands plants north of Fort McMurray, the first nation in Fort McKay, twice a week.
"Sulfur smells like rotten eggs," says Stewart, who lives in Fort McKay . ".
"Ammonia smells like cat urine.
Stewart says the smell is too bad, community members no longer hang clothes outside, older people rarely go out, and many use air purifiers at home.
In the past, residents had to call government agencies to report bad smells.
Wood Buffalo Environmental Society (WBEA)
Even training community members to sniff out and report offensive smells from the oil sands.
They are nicknamed the "nose Rangers ".
"The nose now
Ranger force has expanded and received major software updates-
Call it the nose Ranger 2
Thanks for the smartphone app.
A community odor monitoring program launched by the association last fall allows anyone in Fort McMurray's oil sands region to report smells using an iphone, Android phone or tablet.
In the first six months, 134 reports were recorded using the app. 'Crowd-
For Fort McKay, a small village and a First Nations and Métis community, as well as for the rest of the city of woodbuffalo in the area, getting the scent frequency "oil sands has always been a stinking problem. But because of the air
Quality incidents are so sudden that the authorities are often unable to follow up because there are reports within a few hours of the incident, or the location is not specific enough.
The app allows users to choose from a variety of scents, including ammonia, asphalt and fuel.
The app then uses the phone's GPS to specify the location and time of the smell.
In Fort McKay, iPad was installed in two community offices for those who don't have a mobile phone.
WBEAexecutive director Sanjay Prasad said that the information collected through the app, coupled with data from 25 air monitoring stations in the Wood Buffalo area, allows researchers to track complaints in real time. "We are crowd-
"We don't see this app anywhere else," Prasad said.
"Minimize impactOn on March 31, the app suddenly received multiple complaints about tarlike smell.
The researchers looked at the complaints and were able to link them to an increase in burning at an oil plant.
Ryan Abel, the regulatory and technical manager of the first country in the sustainable development department of Fort mckeburg, said, he hopes that the application's data and measurement data from the monitoring station will help the oil sands website understand the source of the smell and how it can be eliminated.
"We will be able to see the time when these events take place and want to connect them with the work that has already taken place," Abel said . ".
"And relate it to the main reasons that lead to these problems and how we can address them.
"More FORTMcMURRAYNEWS: 'Rush to fix this ': UCP wants Fort McMurray's reelection to be called more FORTMcMURRAYNEWS: fort McMurray Airport's destroyed Afghanistan war memorial in Fort McMurray Stewart believes her community will not return to clean, fresh air for several days in a row.
But she hopes to find a balance.
"We can't solve this problem because of our location.
We can't pick up.
This is our home. there are industries around us. they can't move . "
"So the best thing to do next is to find out where the smell comes from and try to lighten it.
"On facebook, Twitter, get in touch with cbc's McMurray Fort reporter David Thurton and email him. thurton@cbc.