Cache Valley's air evades EPA control by a breath and a sigh

By John Zsiray

March 23, 2004 | LOGAN -- Mayor Doug Thompson announced Friday that the air quality had barely passed the Environmental Protection Agency's standards which kept the city out of the penalty phase.

"If you know what your problem is you can solve it," Thompson said.

The EPA installed air-quality testing equipment valley-wide in early 2001 to start recording Cache Valley's air. The testing equipment showed that the particulate matter was dangerous to the health of valley residents.

PM 2.5 is such a dangerous particulate because it can penetrate deep down into one's respiratory system and stick in their lungs.

"There can be long-term health problems with PM 2.5," Thompson said. "The first winter it was in we exceeded the limit."

The testing stations were spread throughout the valley from Avon to Preston. On Feb. 7, 2002, the monitoring equipment brought back the fifth-worst recorded particulate matter recording in the United States.

"Our PM 2.5 is turning out to be really unusual," Thompson said. "Primary [causes] for PM 2.5 is from combustion of hydrocarbon."

This buildup of PM 2.5 is primarily caused by woodstoves, diesel and all the automobiles the valley has. Natural gas doesn't contribute to the PM 2.5 buildup as much as others.

"If everything were natural gas we would be in good shape," Thompson said.

Another reason that contributes to the valley's problem with PM 2.5 is the agrarian society that the valley is founded on.

"In Cache Valley we have an abundance of livestock," Thompson said. "There are as many cows as there are people in the valley and at least twice as many chickens."

The waste that is produced from the livestock leaves the chemical ammonia in the air. This ammonia contributes to the PM 2.5 levels being too high. This ammonia that is created will then bond with nitrogen and "bloom" and push the PM 2.5 levels closer to being over the EPA's limits.

"You could track the PM 2.5 on the Internet, it would keep climbing and climbing until the weather broke," Thompson said.

The geographic region that we live in ensures that the air is trapped in the valley and stays here. The air has only one drainage point out of the valley, Cutler Dam. This area is lower in elevation so it allows the air to travel out of the valley and disperse the pollution.

"It is like a Thermos bottle," Thompson said.

Utah State University has joined in on doing research on the PM 2.5 problem in the valley. Dr. Randy Martin, an associate professor in environmental engineering is helping with the particulate research in the valley.

"[We are] fortunate to have scientists at USU that are nationally regarded in the area of PM 2.5," Thompson said.

Martin placed 17 monitoring stations around the valley to record the particulate matter. These stations brought back data that is helping USU researchers categorize the problem in the valley.

With the valley slipping under the radar screen for the EPA's penalties, the valley still got a lot of recognition. During the winter the PM 2.5 total climbed to levels that were very dangerous to the health of the residents.

"There is no question we got attention this winter," Thompson said.

With the PM 2.5 levels growing the EPA can start taking action to reduce the particulate matter in the valley. The EPA has many outlets to pursue when penalizing an area for their violation of the laws.

"They can force you to have light synchronization on your main street, we have that," Thompson said. "They can force you to have red, yellow, green burn days, we have that. Auto emissions testing is about the only thing they have left to impose on us.

"They are at a loss of how to penalize us," Thompson said.

The EPA takes the data from the stations and compiles it to record the particulate matter buildup. The data is complied throughout the year and the penalties for violation of the abundance of PM 2.5 are assessed at the end of the year.

This year the valley has already reached a record high for the concentration of PM 2.5 due to the heavy inversion that happened earlier in the year. This inversion caused a scare for the valley resulting in warnings for people to stay inside their homes and stay away from activities that were outside.

"Whatever we are going to do, we need to do it before December," Thompson said.

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