FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2002
Contacts:
Rick Sprott, Director, Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-4022
Bob Dalley, Manager, Air Monitoring Center, (801) 887-0762
Beginning Saturday, Wasatch Front residents will be asked to "Spare the Air" in an effort to reduce ozone, the primary ingredient in summertime smog. During the summer ozone season, which runs from June 1 through Sept. 30, the Division of Air Quality's Air Monitoring Center will call voluntary no-drive days and issue health advisories when pollution levels are expected to increase to unhealthful levels.
Now in its ninth season, the "Spare the Air" campaign aims to reduce summertime smog in Salt Lake, Davis, Utah and Weber counties. During a no-drive day, residents are asked to voluntarily reduce driving by carpooling or taking the bus or TRAX. Additionally, residents can help keep pollution levels down by filling the gas tank or mowing the lawn in the evening, avoiding use of gasoline-powered engines on polluted days and conserving energy.
"Every little bit that residents can do helps the air we breathe in big ways. High ozone levels threaten our children's health, especially those with asthma, and we must do a better job at protecting our most precious resource," said Rick Sprott, director of the Division of Air Quality.
Ozone is an invisible gas formed from vehicle emissions in the presence of heat and sunlight. It is a major health and environmental concern in urban counties during the summer.
Continued exposure to ozone can cause breathing problems, reduce lung function, irritate eyes and nasal passages and reduce resistance to colds and other infections.
Residents are encouraged to call the Air Pollution Hotline at 975-4009 in Salt Lake and Davis counties or (800) 228-5434 in Utah and Weber counties, or visit the Air Pollution Index Report website at: http://www.deq.state.ut.us/eqamc/api.htm for the latest air pollution information. Conditions are updated at least twice a day. Once in the morning and again in the afternoon.