http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ap4nHhNHDTeq_7O15h8GqA2bvZx4;_ylu=X3oDMTNvam5nbXRkBGEDMQRjY29kZQNwemJ1YWxsY2FoNQRjcG9zAzQEZwMxBGludGwDdXMEbWNvZGUDcHpidWFsbGNhaDUEbXBvcwM0BHBrZ3QDMgRwb3MDMQRzZWMDdGQtbG9jBHNsawN0aXRsZQR0ZXN0AzcwMQR3b2UDMjM2ODExNw--/SIG=131oh0hbr/EXP=1340556702/**http%3A//www.courier-journal.com/article/20120622/NEWS01/306220106/1001/rsslink Louisville could violate proposed new soot rule EPA plans tighter standards for fine particles
Purchase Image Louisville Gas & Electric's plans to phase out burning coal at its Cane Run power plant should make it easier for Louisville to comply with tougher federal pollution standards for fine particles and soot. / Michael Clevenger/The Courier-Journal Written by
James Bruggers The Courier-Journal Fine particle pollution Called PM 2.5, it describes particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller, or one-thirtieth the diameter of a human hair.
Health studies have shown a significant association between exposure to fine particles and premature death from heart or lung disease.
Fine particle pollution is linked to cardiovascular symptoms, cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks, respiratory symptoms, asthma attacks and bronchitis.
The EPA proposal can be found here:
www.epa.gov/pm/actions.html More New information made public by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week suggests that the Louisville area could violate the agency’s new standard for fine particles and soot when it is put in place later this year.
The microscopic bits of soot and other particles can lodge deeply in the lungs and can cause premature death, according to the EPA.
The EPA announced June 15 that it would enact a new fine particle standard later this year, in the range of an annual average of 12 to 13 micrograms per cubic meter. At the time, the agency did not release any lists of counties that might violate that standard based on relatively current air quality measurements. Instead, the EPA released a projection that showed only two to six counties across the country would violate the standard by 2020, when states generally have to meet it.
None were in Kentucky or Indiana.
But the EPA followed up this week by posting a
list of American counties that could violate the new standard based on three years of readings from 2008 through 2010, and they show Jefferson County at 13.2 micrograms per cubic meter. Daviess and Bullitt County in Kentucky were shown as potentially out of compliance, as were Clark and Floyd counties in Indiana.
More current readings from the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District show Jefferson County’s number for 2010-12 at 12.1, still a possible violation if the EPA standard is set at the lowest proposed number.
EPA officials would not explain why they originally focused only on a projection for 2020 that downplayed the impact of the tougher standard. Earlier this week, an EPA spokeswoman, Enesta Jones, would only say in an email that a more detailed accounting would be made public this week.
The Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District is still sorting through the EPA’s announcement and what it may mean for the Louisville area, said Tom Nord, district spokesman. “It would be nice if we could find out what the exact standard will be,” he said. (Page 2 of 2)
But he also said the Louisville area is in a good position to meet the new standard based on recent air quality trends, new and anticipated pollution reductions at area power plants and efforts to clean up diesel emissions.
The Gallagher power plant in New Albany, Ind., run by Duke Energy, shut down two of its four coal-fired generating units this year. Louisville Gas & Electric plans to install new scrubbers and other controls at its Mill Creek plant. LG&E also plans to shut down coal burning at its Cane Run plant by 2016 and replace it with cleaner-burning natural gas.
“We’re trending down,” Nord said.
He also noted that the district is in the process of demonstrating that it now complies with the current annual standard of 15 micrograms per cubic meter.
EPA officials said the proposed standards would produce between $2.3 billion and $5.9 billion in health benefits annually for a proposed standard of 12 micrograms per cubic meter, and $88 million to $220 million in health benefits annually for a proposed standard of 13.
Costs for implementing the proposal are $2.9 million to $69 million, EPA said.
Industry and Republicans in Congress oppose the tougher standard.
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield, R-1st District, issued a joint statement expressing their disappointment.
“Any change to these regulatory standards could result in significant adverse economic consequences and job losses,” they said. “Given the weak state of our economy, it is imperative the administration allow for a full and thorough review of all the alternatives, including retention of the current standards.”
