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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: July 30, 1998 11:51 am Contact: US Public Interest Research Group Rebecca Stanfield, (202) 546-9707 |
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Latest News Releases
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Air Pollution Violates Health Standard on Sixty-Nine Percent of Summer Days; Report Documents Violations At Mid-Point in 1998 Smog Season | ||
| WASHINGTON - July 30 - Today Clean Air advocates released a new report
documenting that for the first half of the 1998 ozone season, air pollution reached levels
considered unhealthful under the federal standard for smog on at least 74 days, or on
seven out of every ten days. Violations of the standard occurred 1904 times at
monitors across the nation. The report is called "Danger in the Air: A
Midpoint Assessment of the 1998 Ozone Season," and was co-written by the U.S.
Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and the Clean Air Network. "This summer, people in the U.S. have been routinely breathing air that is dangerous to their health," said Rebecca Stanfield, Staff Attorney for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "Frequent exposure to high levels of smog will cause significant loss of lung function even for perfectly healthy adults, and is much more threatening for children, the elderly and those with asthma or respiratory disease," she continued. This summer is the first year that states have been required to monitor and report violations of EPA’s new standard for smog, adopted last year in response to overwhelming evidence that the old standard was not protecting public health. Not all states have made this data available yet, but the data that is available from 27 states and Washington, DC indicate that: · The new standard is significantly more protective than the old standard. While the new standard was violated 1904 times on 74 days, the old standard was violated 139 times on 35 days. · On every day since June 20, at least one U.S. community has been exposed to unhealthful levels of air pollution; · North Carolina is experiencing the most frequent exposure to dangerously high air pollution levels, violating the standard on more than half the days since the start of ozone season; · Other states experiencing especially frequent episodes of unhealthful air quality include: Texas (34% of days); Georgia (46% of days); Florida (32% of days); Pennsylvania (38% of days); Maryland (33% of days); Indiana (28% of days); New Jersey (27% of days); New York (25% of days) and Michigan (22% of days). "Aggressive action is needed to protect public health from the impacts of air pollution," said Stanfield. "We greatly appreciate EPA’s leadership in setting tough new standards for clean air. Now we are counting upon EPA and Congress both to cut emissions of smog-forming pollution from power plants and from cars, to ensure that these standards are met," she added. Right now the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is reviewing a new rule proposed by EPA to cut smog-forming nitrogen oxide emissions from power plants in 22 eastern states 85% by the year 2003. Electric power plants are the largest industrial source of this pollutant, emitting about one-third of U.S NOx emissions. The rule would significantly reduce the number of violations of both the old and new smog standards in many of the same southern, midwestern and mid-Atlantic states where the air has been unhealthy most frequently this summer. This rule is under attack from a coalition of coal and utility companies from the midwest and the south. "Once again, EPA is in the position of needing to stand up to the polluting industries in order to protect public health," said Stanfield. "We hope the Administration listens to the people who are breathing the air on this issue, and not the industries who cause the pollution," she concluded. ### |
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