ARUNDEL DIGEST Pasadena residents may soon have an air monitoring station to take definitive readings of the amount of sulfur dioxide pollution in their area.

State officials said last week that Riviera Beach Elementary School on Jenkins Road is the best place to put the monitoring device. Other options, including Solley Elementary School and the Orchard Beach Volunteer Fire Department, are still being considered, and the department hopes to make a final decision this coming week.

The decision to install a monitor came after conflicting reports from federal and state officials gave residents concerns about local air quality.

In July 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled areas within a 17-mile radius of the coal-burning Herbert A.

Wagner Generating Station are exposed to unhealthy levels of sulfur dioxide, a pollutant that contributes to respiratory problems, particularly in the young, the elderly and people with asthma.

The Maryland Department of the Environment, however, disputed that claim, saying the agency reached its conclusion using data that predated the plant’s use of low-sulfur coal. A model that accounts for the use of low-sulfur coal shows no violations of the EPA’s sulfur dioxide standard, according to the department.

The EPA and the state used models to reach their conclusions. Modeling relies on projections of air quality based on meteorological data, emission rates, height of a plant’s smoke stacks and other data.

Residents and legislators asked for monitoring equipment to be placed near the plant to conclusively determine air quality in the area based on readings, not models.

The monitor has already been purchased.

The monitor and installation will cost about $100,000, said MDE Air Director Tad Aburn. It will cost roughly $20,000 a year to operate.

Finlayson wins tight Ward 4 primary in Annapolis One week after votes were cast in the Annapolis city primary election, provisional and absentee ballot votes counted this past week confirmed Alderwoman Sheila Finlayson as the Democratic candidate for the Ward 4 general election by a margin of 17 votes over Toni Strong Pratt.

Finlayson will be alderwoman barring a challenge by a write-in candidate, as there is no Republican running in the general election.

In the city’s mayoral race, newcomer Gavin Buckley defeated state Sen. John Astle for the Democratic nomination, setting up a contest with incumbent Republican Mayor Mike Pantelides. In other results from the primary: Ward 1: Democrat Elly Tierney will face Republican Larry Claussen. Tierney defeated incumbent Alderman Joe Budge.

Claussen did not have a primary challenge.

Ward 2: Incumbent Republican Fred Paone will face Democrat Kurt Riegel in a rematch of the 2013 election.

Ward 3: Incumbent Democrat Rhonda Pindell Charles was unchallenged in the primary and does not have a Republican challenger in the general.

Ward 5: Republican James Appel will face Democrat Marc Rodriguez in the general election for one of the council’s open seats.

Ward 6: Democrat Shaneka Henson defeated challenger DaJuan Gay. There is no Republican challenger.

Ward 7: Democrat Rob Savidge will face Republican David Frankel in the general election. Savidge is a whistleblower who worked for the city before releasing information about environmental decisions.

Frankel is a former Maryland assistant attorney general.

Ward 8: Incumbent Alderman Ross Arnett defeated Democratic challenger John “Bumper” Moyer and will face Republican Julie Mussog in the general election.

— Danielle Ohl and Chase Cook, Baltimore Sun Media Group