WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2008 News WWW.KANSAN.COM THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5
》 ENVIRONMENT
New ozone emissions standards to affect Douglas County
Citizens could limit vehicle use, businesses could be affected if they cannot meet new EPA standards
BY MANDY EARLES
mearels@kansan.com
According to an EPA press release, communities must lower their ground-level ozone, or smog emissions, to 75 parts per billion, compared with the old standard of 84, by March 2010.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently passed a new, more stringent standard for smog emissions. Now, Douglas County must make sure it can meet those standards.
Richard Ziesenis, director of environmental health for the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, said there were many things people in the county could do as individuals to reduce the ozone's emissions. He suggested limiting vehicle use by walking, riding a bike or taking public transit.
Ground-level ozone forms when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds are exposed to sunlight. Power plants, motor vehicles, airplanes, and household products such as paints and cleaning supplies, make up most of the human-made emissions, according to the EPA.
Mike Russell, director of Environment Health and Safety at the University, said a lot of the ozone emissions in Lawrence came from the traffic.
"We need to make significant cutbacks in the number of both commercial and individual vehicles that travel on the road on a daily basis," Russell said.
Rick Brunetti, director of the bureau of air and radiation
"The community would also be required to get technology to help regulate the ozone emissions."
deadline, it could mean bad news for businesses. He said that if a company was located in a community that couldn't meet the EPA's standards, it might suffer because it could no
at KDHE, said it was mainly the Kansas City Metro area that was contributing to the ozone emissions. He said the city may need to take serious measures in order to meet the EPA's new standards. Brunetti said the KDHE was still looking into whether Douglas County was contributing enough emissions to be considered a part of the Metro area and in need of regulation.
Brunetti said if Kansas City didn't meet the new standards by the 2010
RICK BRUNETTI Director of the bureau of air and radiation at KDHE
longer expand its business.
"The community would also be required to get technology to help regulate the ozone emissions," Brunetti said. "It can get very expensive."
Brunetti said he didn't think it would come
to that for Kansas City, though. He said Kansas communities were starting to realize they needed to cut down on emissions, not just for the environment but for their health as well.
Joe Blubaugh, director of communications at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said people were starting to learn more about what they could do and even businesses were catching on.
"Some agencies offer a free gas
cap test, which means they'll test to see if your gas cap fits correctly," Blubaugh said. "If it doesn't fit correctly, your vehicle can leak CO2 into the air."
preventing bronchitis, asthma, hospital visits, nonfatal heart attacks and premature death.
Brunetti said that cutting down on ozone emissions would mean clear, cleaner air, which could help improve health conditions.
Cathy Milbourn, senior press officer for the EPA, said the EPA changed its standards because scientific studies showed the ozone affected those with asthma and could cause harm to people who spent a lot of time outdoors. In the EPA's press release, it estimated the new standard would save between $2 billion and $19 billion in health benefits, including
"We think of the environment and health as two separate things, but they are related," he said. "So much of our health is determined by how well we take care of our environment."
Edited by Jesse Temple