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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 30, 2003
Contacts:
Cheryl Heying, Manager, Division of Air Quality, (801) 536-4015
Laura Vernon, UDEQ Public Information Officer, (801) 536-4484
(Salt Lake City, Utah) - It’s hot. Summer has arrived early along the Wasatch Front, and as the temperatures increase so do the ozone levels. Beginning June 1 through Sept. 30, Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah county residents are asked to “Choose Clean Air” in an effort to reduce ozone, an invisible gas formed when emissions from automobiles, industry and other sources react to bright sunshine and high temperatures. It is a major health and environmental concern in Utah’s most urban counties during the summer.
As such, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is asking residents to participate in voluntary “no-drive days” when exceptionally high ozone concentrations are forecast. To help residents know what other actions they can take, especially if they can’t get out of their vehicles, DEQ has a “Clean Air Utah” Web site at www.cleanair.utah.gov. By visiting the Web site, people can develop a daily plan of action, personalized to their needs, that includes steps they can take at home and at work as well as ways to drive less and drive smarter.
For example, residents can help keep pollution levels down by carpooling or taking the bus or TRAX, walking to lunch, filling the gas tank or mowing the lawn in the evening, avoiding use of gasoline-powered engines on polluted days, delaying errands and consolidating trips.
“By taking daily action, people can make a difference all summer long and especially during exceptionally hot, sunny days when ozone levels are at their worst,” said Rick Sprott, director of the Division of Air Quality.
Residents are also encouraged to watch out for signs that pollution levels are increasing and to be extra vigilant at doing their part to keep pollution levels at a minimum.
“The brown haze you see hovering over the valley is a mix of pollutants needed to make ozone,” Sprott said. “That haze coupled with temperatures at or above 95 degrees and calm winds is a perfect recipe for ozone - and the perfect time to leave the car parked.”
The highest concentrations of ozone usually occur between 2 and 8 p.m. Therefore, it is particularly important for people to stay out of their vehicles as much as possible and incorporate other actions that reduce pollution such as conserving energy.
According to Sprott, any exposure to ozone can be harmful. Continued exposure to ozone can cause breathing problems, reduce lung function, irritate eyes and nasal passages and reduce resistance to colds and other infections. Some people are more at risk of health impacts than others. Those most at risk are children who are active outdoors, adults who work or exercise vigorously outdoors and people with respiratory diseases such as asthma or emphysema. At-risk people can reduce their exposure to ozone by spending less time participating in vigorous outdoor activities, taking it a little easier when outside and exercising in the morning or later in the evening.
For the latest air pollution information, 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 “Clean Air Utah” Web site at www.cleanair.utah.gov. Information on air quality is updated at least twice a day - once in the morning and again in the afternoon.
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