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Our air quality across much of the state does not meet new federal standards, and the Environmental Protection Agency is forcing Utah to come up with a plan.
The area of concern is fine particulate matter. In particular, it's called a PM 2.5. It's been associated with health problems ranging from heart disease to asthma. It's very damaging to the body, and now Utah will need to make some major changes.
As a Utah athlete, 14-year-old Benjamin Spears knows exactly what it feels like to exercise outside in heavy pollution. "You really get a burning going in your chest. Headaches and you just can't push," he says.
Today Benjamin is training with Dr. Testa of The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital, known as TOSH. With many athletes coming to the Murray facility, Dr. Testa knows just how damaging fine particulate matter in Utah's air can be. He said, "These fine particles are so small they can go through our natural filters, through the nose and upper airways. So they go deep into the lungs."
Outdoor exercise is one way to feel the effects of pollution, but children, the elderly and those with various health conditions are most sensitive.
Today the EPA notified Governor Huntsman that areas of Utah are not meeting new health-based standards on PM 2.5 particles.
Donna Spangler, spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), says, "It didn't just happen overnight." She says Utah knew the standards would be a challenge. "We're going to do our best to try and improve the air quality, and that's the bottom line."
The areas of concern are Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Weber, Box Elder and Tooele counties, plus parts of Cache County, Utah and Franklin County in Idaho.
The EPA says what's common in these areas is the inversion, and Utah has to identify the emissions causing this and then have one game plan to control them.
Cherise Udell of Utah Moms for Clean Air says, "There's been a lot of discussion about this. It's great to have the EPA, the federal government come to Utah, slap it on the hand and say get your act together."
Gov. Huntsman and his spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley are in Las Vegas for the National Clean Energy Summit at UNLV. Roskelley tells KSL, "These are similar areas to what the governor already identified. Air quality is one of the governor's top issues he's concerned about. The EPA standards bring a heightened spotlight to it."
DEQ will draw up the plans moving forward, but real change will take cooperation from the everyday driver to Utah's industry. "It's going to have to come from everyone," Spangler said.
So here's the timeline Utah has to work with:
- There's a 60 day window for DEQ to analyze the EPA's assessment
- The new tougher standards officially take effect April 2009.
- Utah's plan must be complete by 2012
- By 2014, the air quality standards must be met.
Utah is among 25 states nationwide that have counties/areas being formally proposed as nonattainment for failing to meet the PM2.5 standard. This is the first time Utah has had PM2.5 areas identified.
E-mail: wjohnson@ksl.com
E-mail: gkennedy@ksl.com
