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Hold your breath; Cache Valley facing air quality problem By
Andrea Nixon Cache Valley needs to clean up its act. Its clean air act, that is. In a press conference Friday, Logan Mayor Doug Thompson said the biggest problem facing the City Council is what they are going to do about the air quality problem in Cache Valley. "We no longer have time," said Thompson. "Like Yoda said, 'This is a do or don't-do winter. There is no try.' We've got to make it work." The past two winters, Logan has had the highest concentration of a certain pollutant in all of Utah. The pollutant is known as PM 2.5 (particulate matter) and is the size of a quarter diameter of a human hair. Small enough to stay in suspension in air, the pollutant floats around until it either blows away or is precipitated down by rain or snow. PM 2.5 is dangerous to humans and air-breathing animals because it is too small for the natural defenses to remove from the lungs. A BYU study last month said PM 2.5 can be as bad as second-hand smoke. Another form of the pollutant, PM 10, can be coughed up and isn't quite as harmful. In addition to suffering health risks, if Cache Valley doesn't clean up its air it could also face pressure from the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). "Another year and we would be liable for restrictions based on the clean air act," said Thompson. "These restrictions are pretty dramatic." Restrictions might include mandatory emissions testing and the potential use of oxygenated gas. Thompson thinks such actions would "kind of wake everybody up," although they may not be a totally good idea. Thompson said the MTBE additive in gasoline is "nasty stuff [that] leaks worse than gas and goes into the underground water supply." An even more dramatic restriction would be a significant portion of federal highway funds could be frozen if Cache Valley's not cleaned up. "It would be very painful," said Thompson. "I could promise you." Thompson said the council needs to look at some "pretty strong measures" to improve the problem because "if we don't, the EPA will and we're better off if we do it ourselves." Even though it is the Logan City Council that is actively pursuing the problem, Thompson was quick to point out it affects all of Cache Valley, not just Logan City or Cache County. Dr. Randy Martin, Utah State University professor, used a mobile particle counter and found air at the Utah-Idaho border exceeded EPA standards. Furthermore, the PM 2.5 pollutant didn't dissipate until as far south as Jensen Farm, near Wellsville. Specialists are puzzled how the air got so bad so quickly. Thompson said inversions in the atmosphere are a possible contributor. "[Cache Valley] is an airshed," he said. "The size and dynamics makes our problem that much worse." Located in a "geographically tight bowl," with mountains on all four sides, Cache Valley is only about 30 miles long and 12 miles wide at the biggest part. "It's a very small area," said Thompson. Precipitation is also affected by the inversion factor. Snow falls on the ground in Cache Valley when it doesn't fall elsewhere around the state. The snow doesn't melt, and because snow is colder than dirt, it reflects sunlight and restricts warmth. Thompson said the air quality is worst in the winter months, from November to March, but it's still a problem in summer because there's no air movement. Along with inversions, traffic congestion is also speculated as being a primary culprit for the Valley's poor air. Traffic is increasing 5 percent a year in Cache Valley while there's only a 3 percent increase in population. Thompson said they are debating restricting travel, making driving conditions so uncomfortable that residents will opt to walk, car pool, or take the bus instead of drive their own vehicles. Reducing the allowed number of diesels (including pickups) has been discussed as well, because vehicles with diesel engines pollute four times as much as regular gasoline vehicles. Wood-burning stoves were also thought to be a major reason for the pollution. Last winter, Logan City initiated a simple green/yellow/red burn days system to hopefully alleviate the problem. On green days, residents could burn coal and wood in their stoves. On yellow days, they were advised to use caution, and on red days burning was restricted. Thompson said numbers revealed the green/yellow/red burn system wasn't sufficient because the tested winter was twice as bad as the previous one. Because of the ineffectiveness of the system, Thompson and those working on the air quality issue realized they had a unique problem that wasn't going to be solved easily. "We're going to have to think way outside the box," he said. "We're going to have to do something that hasn't been done." The Utah Division of Air Quality has formed an "elite task force" to examine Logan's data and try to determine what really is causing the air quality problem. Thompson said he hopes to have testing numbers ready by June, so the committee can come up with a plan and have it ready and in place by September. In addition to extensive research, good public relations are also going to play a big role in reducing the problem. "We've got to get the message out to people," he said. "Media has to be a partner with us."
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