Ozone levels too high

Ozone levels too high
Impact of power plants to be discussed


Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The New Mexico Environment Department’s Air Quality Bureau will hold a public meeting/open house Tuesday at San Juan College in Farmington on ground level ozone pollution in San Juan County.

The meeting will include presentations by the bureau and the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency on ozone levels in the county and federal requirements for areas that have violated the federal ozone standard.

Background discussion of Four Corners air quality and an expected timeline for implementation of the new federal ground level ozone standard also will be discussed.

The meeting will be held 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., in rooms 9010 and 9012 Henderson Fine Arts Center and will include a question and answer session. Those who attend the meeting can take a self-guided tour of the open house, where Air Quality Bureau and Environmental Protection Agency staff will be available to answer questions on air quality issues.

The Air Quality Bureau operates two monitoring stations in San Juan County that measure ozone, a colorless gas that can cause respiratory distress and other health impacts at elevated levels. Since the installation of the monitors, the bureau has measured concentrations that approach one of the federal health-based standards. These measurements were unexpectedly high for a rural area, according to the bureau.

Most areas with high ground-level ozone concentrations are densely-populated cities. If ozone concentrations in San Juan County exceed the federal ozone standards, the New Mexico Environment Department would have to implement a plan to reduce air pollution in order to protect public health.

This plan would affect businesses and individuals in San Juan and possibly adjacent counties and could have a significant economic impact for the area.

New Mexico Attorney General Gary King filed a motion earlier this month with the EPA Appeals Board challenging the air permit for the proposed 1,500 megawatt, coal-fired Desert Rock power plant, stating that October ozone levels pushed San Juan County, the region in which Desert Rock would be built, into non-attainment status of acceptable federal ozone levels.

The state said the October data compels New Mexico to redesignate the air quality control region encompassing the proposed Desert Rock site as non-attainment for ozone.

EPA relied on information in a 2004 modeling report and concluded that even with substantial oil and gas development in the area, it was projected to remain well below the 8-hour ozone standard. The state said the new information should be considered because it raises substantial new questions about key determinations underlying the region’s ozone analysis.

Information: http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/aqb/control_
strat/SanJuanCountyOzone.htm