About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2000)
WHO NEEDS ATLANTA? WE’RE BIG ENOUGH TO SMOKE ON OUR OWN NOW n Friday. August 18, a haze blurred the horizon around \J I I Athens at eight o'clock in the moaning. The sun already felt hot as it climbed in a bleached blue rky. Weather forecasters were predicting ore of the hottest days of the year, and by mid after noon, the temperature had risen to 99 degrees. By the end of the day, the level of ozone in Athens' air had exceeded the eight-hour federal standard for the 16th time this year. Ozone is the main ingredient in smog. Although it occurs natu rally in the earth's upper atmosphere, where u provides a snie'd against harmful ultraviolet rays, in the lower atmosphere, near ground level, ozone is a form of air pollution that is dangerous to health, even at relatively low concentrations. It can cause acute res piratory problems, aggravate asthma and impair lung function even in healthy adults. It is especially dangerous for children. Ozone is formed by a complex series of chemical reactions among air pollutants that come from sources such as cars, power plants and some industries. Because it is formed in hot, Sc.nny weather, it is mainly a concern in the summer. “Ground-level ozone forms when the temperatures are hot; the sun is out, and the winds are calm," explains Danny France, a chemist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Athens. “In these conditions, the chemical precursors literally bake and react in the air, and ozone is created." While the levels of ozone detected in Athens i his year are not as alarming as those in Atlanta—where a "code r ed" smog alert was in effect on August 16, 17 and 18, warning even healthy adults to limit outdoor exercise—they may be an indication that air quality in Athens is suffering. The EPA has monitored ozone in Athens air this summer. "What we've seer, is that, generally, on days when ozone levels have been high in Atlanta, they have been high here, too," France says. "The readings for Athens have been slightly lower than in Atlanta, but ours have been close." The EPA uses two standards to evaluate the level of ozone in the air: a one-hour average of .12 parts per million and an eight-hour aveiage of .08 parts per million. The monitor in Athens registered no readings this summer that exceeded the one-hour standard for ozone, France says, but by mid- August, the eight-hour standard had been exceeded 16 times: one day in May, three days in June, eight days in July, and four days in August. For at least eight hours on each of these days, the level of ozone in Athens' air was higher than the eight-hour .tandard of .08 parts per million. The highest eight-hour average—.111 parts per million- occurred on both June 1 and 2, while the highest one-hour average—.115 parts per million—was registered on July 19. The eight-hour standard foi ozone is currently suspended because a federal court decision, in response to an appeal by trucking groups and others, has blocked its implementation. But the EPA is appealing this decision. The standard w’.s established in 1997 because scientific studies have shown that health effects occur at lower levels than the previous standard, and that it is important to consider longer exposure times. ATLANTA SMOG HERE? If ground-level ozone is becoming a problem in Athens, it is not known for sure how much of the problem comes from Atlanta and how much comes from Athens' own sources—especially emissions from cars and trucks. "It's probably a little bit of both," says France. "We're downwind of Atlanta on at least some days, and the transportation of the pre cursors of ozone is well documented." Information about ozone pollution available on the EPA's web site explains that emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds—the chemical precursor to ozone—can be carried hun dreds of miles from their origins and result in high ozone concentra tions over very large regions "Do we have enough data to point a finger at Atlanta?" France continues. "No. But it's certainly a reasonable question to ask." Monitoring by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has shown that Athens also may have a problem with another air pollutant. In 1999, the annual average tor the level of smalt par ticulates (particles 2.5 micrometers or smaller) in the air in Athens was 19.3 micrograms per cubic meter, which is higher than the fed eral annual standard of 15 micrograms per cubic meter. Techn’cally, this level is not a violation because the standard requires a three-year average, and the EPD has only been monitoring since January 1999. “But given the magnitude of the figures we have seen for this first year, it's a close bet that we will violate the annual standard at the end of three years," says Kit Redmond, envi ronmental program manager in the air protection branch of the EPD. Particulate matter is the general term used by EPA and EPD for air pollution in the form of particles. Some partirles are large or dark enough to be seen as soot or smoke. Others are so small they can be detected only with an electron microscope. Both fine and coarser kinds of particulate matter can be inhaled and accumulate in the respiratory system, and both are associated with many health problems. The EPA has established air quality standards for two sizes of particulate matter: coarser particles (10 micrometers and smaller) and fine particles (2.5 micrometers and smaller). Fine particles come from many sources, including motor vehicles, power plants, some industries, residential fireplaces, wood stoves and some natural sources. The standards for fine particles were newly established by the EPA in 1997, because many scientific studies had shown that they were needed to protect health. Monitoring began in 1999, and beginning in 2002, based on three years of monitoring data, the EPA will designate areas as "non-attainment" if they do not meet these new standards. The new annual standard for fine particles is the one that Athens looks likely to exceed. Implementation of the standards for fine particles is currently blocked by the same federal court ruling that has suspended the eight-hour ozone standard, but the EPA strongly supports the need for them. So what does this information say about air quality in Athens? Should Athenians be concerned? And if so, wl.at can be done about it? It seems reasonable to wonder if all the pollution in Atlanta might not be affecting the air in Athens—only 70 miles away—to some degree. But it is also possible that Athens is creating serious pollution problems of its own, with thousands of motor vehicles on the road every day. "We will eventually confront an air quality problem," acknowl edges Athens-Clarke County Manager Al Crace, "and we don't need to leave our heads in the sand until this is a crisis situation." ATHENS’ AIR QUALITY A clear picture of where and how to get information about Athens' air quality takes a little while to untangle. In simplest terms, the U.S. EPA is charged, under the 1990 Clean Air Act, with developing air quality standards and overseeing implementation by the states. The states are required to develop plans for monitoring air quality and for correcting air pollution problems. The plans must be approved by the EPA, and the states must provide the EPA with an annual summary of monitoring results. The EPD, which is responsible for monitoring air quality in Georgia, does not monitor for ozone in Athens, but has monitored air quality here for particulates (particleslO micrometers and smaller) and lead since 1972, with no violations of the particulate standard until last year's monitoring of small particulates (particles 2.5 micrometers and smaller), Redmond says. The agency maintains 21 ozone monitors around the state, with the largest number con centrated in metropolitan areas, especially in Atlanta. The EPA's ozone monitor in Athens is a special purpose monitor that was originally set up early this year for training purposes. France says the monitoring has beer, carried out with the same pro cedures and quality controls that are required for official monitoring sites, and he expects that after the data has been checked for quality assurance it will be entered in the national air quality data base maintained by the EPA. "I would eventually like to have the data we're collecting on a web site that's accessible to the public so that anyone in Athens would be able to see it," says Bill Bokey, branch chief of the EPA office in Athens. Kenneth Mitchell, chief of Region 4 of the EPA's air monitoring and community planning section in Atlanta, says, "Our goal is to work with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to find an appropriate method to alert people in Athens about potential ozone problems. We are talking with the EPD about that and looking for the best way to do it." Redmond says the EPD's monitoring for small particulates in Athans will continue. "In the future, we are going to try to deter mine what this particulate matter is made up of. The EPA is going to supply us with a new kind of monitor, a speciation monitor, that they are setting up nationally. We expect to get the first of these monitors later this year, in 2000, and we'll set it up at our South DeKalb station, where we monitor for a number of different air pol lutants. Then in 2001 we expect to get more monitors that we can move around the state." The current monitors measure the pollutant only in terms of weight, Redmond says, "But with the speciation monitors, there will be a chemical analysis to tell us the nature of what is collected." "Generally, Athens should not be getting pollution from Atlanta. The prevailing winds carry the pollution more to the south of Atlanta. That's where we've gotten the higher ozone readings." "We will continue to follow the results of the EPA monitoring and evaluate it," Redmond continues. "We ha*e expanded the ozone monitoring network in metro Atlanta and are investigating the need to spread further out from the Atlanta area, depending on the resources available. [We are trying to] find out hov* large the non attainment area is." Atlanta is considered a "non-attainment" area because its ozone levels have failed to meet federal air quality standards for many years. Thirteen counties in the Atlanta metropolitan area are cov ered by restrictions that have been imposed to clean up the air— including vehicle inspection programs, strict controls on industrial emissions, low-sulfur fuel and the loss of $153 million a year in fed eral transportation funds. Early this year, the EPD proposed adding six more counties, including Walton County, to the area in which vehicle inspection programs are required, but the Georgia legislature failed to approve the expansion. In early July, Governor Roy Barnes recommended to the EPA that eight counties around metropolitan Atlanta, including Walton a.id Barrow, plus the counties and cities of Columbus, Macon and Augusta, be added to the ' non-attainment" designation. Columbus, Macon and Augusta have contracted with Georgia Tech for a three- year, $3 million study to determine the source of their smog, in hopes of devising less-restrictive clean-up plans than those being enforced in Atlanta. WHAT CAN WE DO? When asked what steps might be taken locally to protect and improve Athens' air quality, Athens-Clarke County officials say the key is alternative transportation. FLAGPOLE SEPTEMBER 13, 2000
