Pulaski County fails test on soot

65 others in U.S. miss EPA mark

Pulaski County is one of 66 counties in the country that fails to meet the standard for soot pollution announced last week by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA is suggesting a level of 12 micrograms of soot per 35.31 cubic feet of air. Pulaski County’s soot pollution is at 12.1 micrograms, barely exceeding the standard.

Twelve micrograms is roughly equivalent to 0.0000004 of an ounce. The previous standard of 15 micrograms was established in 1997.

Communities are required to meet the new standard by 2020. All counties in the country except for seven in southern California are projected to be in compliance by then, because other pollution rules already in effect governing mercury, sulfur and other pollution from vehicles, factories and power plants will likely bring about that reduction.

A map of the 66 counties in the country with soot levels exceeding the new standard shows Pulaski County as an island, about 370 miles from the closest other area with soot levels exceeding 12 micrograms - Birmingham, Ala.

The air in central Arkan-sas has a higher concentration of soot than in Memphis, Dallas, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City and New Orleans, none of which exceed the new standard. Houston and about a dozen counties in California are the only areas in the country west of Pulaski County that exceed the standard.

Explaining Pulaski County’s soot level is difficult.

“I really don’t know,” said Mike Bates, chief of the air division at the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. “The monitor shows what the monitor shows. Whatever the monitor is detecting is what is reported. We routinely do quality assurance reviews at the monitors to make sure they are operating correctly.”

Not every county in the country has monitors to gauge pollution levels, Bates said.

The state agency will haveto look at the possible sources that are affecting the Pulaski County monitors, whether the sources come from in-state or from other parts of the country, Bates said.

One possible contributor is Entergy Arkansas’ 1,660-megawatt coal-fired plant in Jefferson County, said Glen Hooks, a representative forthe Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign.

“Every coal plant is a little different, depending on the age and whether it has been grandfathered in under the Clean Air Act,” Hooks said. “Some have been retrofitted to install pollution control equipment.”

The White Bluff power plant has not yet had thosescrubbers installed, Hooks said.

“Particulate matter comes from many different sources including traffic from cars and trucks that traverse major arteries in the county,” Entergy Arkansas spokesman Julie Munsell said in a statement. “The Arkansas Department of Environment Quality will establish its process for implementing regulations on any applicable standards once they are adopted. We will fully participate in that process to ensure White Bluff continues to be in compliance as it is today.”

Pulaski County’s 12.1 level of soot is based on a three-year average from 2009-2011.

EPA’s standard announced last week will not be approved by the agency until 2014. By then, Pulaski County and other counties in the country will determine their levels of soot based on an updated average, with 2009 levels dropped from the calculation, Bates said.

Business, Pages 19 on 12/19/2012

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