Aug 20, 2008 12:43 pm US/Pacific
EPA To Cite 5 Midwest States For Pollution
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ―
Federal officials accuse five Midwest states of violating a new pollution standard for tiny soot particles that can cause
respiratory distress in children and the elderly.
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that counties in Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Michigan and
Wisconsin
have run afoul of rules demanding that outdoor pollution particles be
no bigger than 2.5 micrometers — one-30th the diameter of a human hair.
Illinois has 14 counties on the list, Indiana has 19 counties,
Michigan has 9 counties, Ohio has 28 counties and Wisconsin has 6
counties. Minnesota has no counties on the list. Nationwide, EPA
intends to name 215 counties in 25 states as not meeting the new
standard.
The EPA is seeking comments from the states before making its final
designations. Being on the list makes it more difficult for counties to
expand industry. The EPA said it intends to settle on its final soot
nonattainment list by Dec. 18.
Counties included on that list would face pressure to cut levels of
microscopic soot produced by power plants, diesel-burning trucks, cars
and factories.
Those tiny particles lodge in people's lungs and blood vessels and
are a major contributor to respiratory problems, especially in
children, the elderly and people with existing illnesses.
State and local governments
have three years to develop plans to reduce emissions and attain the
standards, said EPA environmental scientist John Summerhays.
The list came as a surprise in Indiana, which had suggested that only five of its counties be cited. The
Indiana Department of Environmental Management said Tuesday that the agency hopes the EPA removes some of the Indiana counties from its final list.
"Monitoring data shows that Indiana's air quality continues to
improve," spokesman Rob Elstro said in a statement, adding that his
agency was "cautiously optimistic" the final list "will not include as
many counties as today's preliminary designations."
His counterpart in Illinois disputed the designation for that state's Rock Island and Massac counties.
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
spokeswoman Maggie Carson said available air quality monitoring data,
prevailing wind direction and the location and size of emission sources
show the counties shouldn't be listed.
"We will be submitting additional analyses to USEPA to support our
position," Carson said in a statement. "We are hopeful that USEPA will
carefully examine this information and respond accordingly."
The EPA said in 1997 that cutting fine-particle pollution would save 15,000 people a year from
premature deaths due to
heart and lung diseases aggravated by soot-filled air.
Tim Maloney, senior policy director for the Hoosier Environmental
Council, said the 19 Indiana counties are mainly the same counties that
were on the EPA's fine particle nonattainment list under its previous
standard.
But he said Knox and
Tippecanoe counties
— in largely rural areas of southwestern and north-central Indiana —
are new to the updated list and that raises questions about what
factors are behind those counties' inclusion on the EPA's proposed list.
"We'll want to look and see what the difference is and whether we
should be more conservative and include even more counties," Maloney
said. "There are very real and
serious health effects from these particles."
The new standard is important because it takes into account growing
concerns about short-term exposure to fine particles that can lodge
deep in the lungs, said Janet McCabe, executive director of Improving
Kids' Environment, an Indianapolis nonprofit working to reduce
environmental threats to children's health.
"There's more and more health evidence suggesting that short-term
exposure to fine particles can really have a health impact," she said.
"Just standing on the sidewalk, breathing in exhaust for a few minutes
can impact your health."
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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