Clean Air News

As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work, Environment North Carolina can be contacted with any questions regarding this news release. 

North Carolina recorded nearly 240 exceedances of the federal and state health standard for smog in the year 2000, the third highest in the nation. Across the country, smog pollution is responsible for more than 6 million asthma attacks and sends 159,000 people to the emergency room each year.

The air was unhealthy to breathe on 35 days in North Carolina between April and October. NCPIRG and the Clean Air Network compiled and analyzed air quality data recorded from hundreds of smog monitors across the nation, documenting the need for aggressive action to reduce ground level ozone, or "smog" pollution in the U.S.

"Smog is causing a public health crisis, triggering 240,000 asthma attacks across the state," said Elizabeth Ouzts, Advocate with NCPIRG. "It's time to take aggressive action to protect public health and clear the air."

The major findings of Danger in the Air are:

In North Carolina there were at least 239 recorded exceedances of EPA's and North Carolina's 8-hour health standard for smog during the period studied.

The ten states with the highest number of recorded exceedances of the 8-hour standard in 2000 were: California (1292), Texas (342), North Carolina (239), Tennessee (225), Georgia (216), Louisiana (204), Ohio (135), Pennsylvania (113), Maryland (100), and Indiana (94).

Nationwide, there were at least 4006 recorded exceedances of EPA's 8-hour health standard for smog in 39 states and the District of Columbia. There were at least 388 recorded exceedances of the less protective 1-hour health standard for smog in 26 states, including 9 in North Carolina.

The 10 states with the highest number of smog days in 2000 were: California (126), Texas (70), Georgia (58), Tennessee (53), Louisiana (44), Florida (36), North Carolina (35), Alabama (26), Arizona (26), and South Carolina (25).

NCPIRG and the Clean Air Network analyzed preliminary data from individual state air pollution control agencies to document each instance in 2000 when the smog levels exceeded the federal health standards for smog pollution. Danger in the Air lists nationwide exceedances of both the more protective 8-hour health standard, adopted by the State of North Carolina, and the less protective 1-hour standard. A day is considered "unhealthy" or a "smog day" if there was at least one exceedance of the 8-hr standard that occurred at a monitor in the state.

Smog is formed when nitrogen oxides, which are emitted as a byproduct of burning fossil fuels at electric power plants and in automobiles, mix with other chemicals in the air in the presence of sunlight and heat. Therefore, unhealthy levels of smog are generally recorded during the summer "smog season." Unusually high levels of rainfall in North Carolina brought the overall number of unhealthy days down from previous years. In 2000, North Carolina's smog season lasted until mid-October.

In North Carolina the two largest sources of nitrogen oxide emissions are power plants and automobiles, which each contribute roughly 40%.

Most of the data included in Danger in the Air was collected directly from the individual state air pollution control agencies. Since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not "quality assure" the final numbers until late January each year, the numbers included in this report are considered "preliminary." In previous years, once the data were quality assured, the final number of exceedances and smog days increased significantly. For example, the 1998 California total increased by 58% after it was quality-assured by the EPA. This report is intended to provide a snapshot of how bad the 2000 smog season was, and what can be done to improve the quality of our air.

NCPIRG called on Congress, the Easley Administration, and state lawmakers to clean up the two largest sources of air pollution: power plants and motor vehicles.

In October of last year, Governor Hunt's Environmental Management Commission adopted a weak measure to clean up the state's 14 coal-fired power plants by 68%. Studies conducted by the State's Division of Air Quality shows that significantly more reductions will be needed from both power plants and automobiles to bring the state's ground-level ozone down to healthy levels.

To clean up the state's power plants, NCPIRG is calling on the Easley administration and state lawmakers to require older plants to adhere to the same standards as do newer plants across the country. Modernizing the power industry would also enhance the reliability of our electric power system, and help to avoid crises like the one faced by California consumers today.

PIRG's campaign for cleaner motor vehicles has seen victories in the last two years with rules to make the average passenger car 90% cleaner and to clean up diesel trucks and buses. New rules reducing pollution from diesel buses and trucks were adopted by the Clinton Administration in December, and the State's Division of Air Quality is proposing cleaning up diesel trucks and buses years before the federal 2007 deadline.

"Supporting the new diesel standards at the state and federal levels and supporting rules to modernize power plants are the two most important things state leaders can do to make our air safe to breathe," said Ouzts.