FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2000
Contacts:
Bob Dalley, Manager, Air Monitoring Center, (801) 887-0762
Rick Sprott, Acting Director, Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-4151
The Division of Air Quality's Air Monitoring Center called nine voluntary no-drive days and issued health advisories for four days during the summer "Spare the Air" season, which ran from June 1 to Sept. 30. Pollution from wildfires in the West is partly to blame.
"Wildfires are often ozone factories," said Rick Sprott, acting director of the Division of Air Quality. "A cloud of smoke may contain lots of ozone because fires create organic compounds and nitrogen oxides that react with heat and sunshine to produce ozone."
Salt Lake and Davis counties exceeded the one-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) during three days from June 1 to Sept. 30, which caused both counties to potentially violate the one-hour standard. During that same period, the eight-hour NAAQS was exceeded eight days in Weber, Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties. Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties also possibly violated the eight-hour standard. This would be the first year ever that Utah County has violated an ozone standard.
This is also the first year that the entire network of air monitoring stations positioned along the Wasatch Front registered ozone levels in excess of the standards.
"We had a fairly bad year that we attribute mostly to natural causes," Sprott said. "In our best judgment, we wouldn't have had some of these exceedences without the wildfires, and we will request that EPA ‘flag' the exceedences during the wildfire episodes. We hope that this will allow us to avoid being re-designated as non-attainment for the ozone standards."
Despite the smoke's contribution to high ozone levels this summer, residents along the Wasatch Front are urged to minimize human causes of ozone. Driving less, using cleaner alternative fuels like natural gas and riding mass transit can help keep pollution levels down.
Summer smog primarily consists of ozone and is a major health and environmental concern in Utah's urban counties. Continued exposure can reduce lung function and lessen the body's ability to resist respiratory diseases and other infections.