LOCAL AIR EXCEEDS LIMITS ON FINE PARTICULATES

by Ella Tyler

I didn’t need the air quality monitors on Clinton Drive that State Representatives Jessica Farrar and Ana Hernandez were standing in front of on Wednesday to tell me the air was bad. It looked bad – grey and thick – and my eyes were watering and I was coughing. But Farrar, Hernandez, and John Wilson, executive director of the Galveston- Houston Association for Smog Prevention, were there to talk about fine particle air pollution, which is not as easily detected.

In 2005, one of the monitors behind Farrar, Hernandez, and Wilson had reported an average of 15.00 micrograms of fine particulates per cubic meter of air, but the backup monitor used for quality control had reported an average of 15.33. Whether or not the Houston region exceeds the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality standard for fine particulates depends on how the quality control data are used, according to Wilson. The current federal standard is an annual average of 15.05 micrograms.

“This is an issue we’re taking very seriously,” Farrar said. “Fine particles from diesel pollution likely cause more cases of cancer in Houston every year than all other air toxics combined.”

Fine particles are defined as having a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less. The largest fine particle is narrower than a human hair. Fine particles are easily inhaled into the lungs, and from there can pass directly into the bloodstream.

According to Wilson, the determination of whether or not the Houston Region meets the air quality standard will be made based on a mass per cubic meter equivalent to 1/20,000th of a grain of sand.

“This information is a wake-up call for all the groups out there who keep insisting that our air quality problem isn’t that bad,” Wilson said. “State environmental officials need to quit trying to prove that we’ve squeaked by the standards and actually focus on cleaning up Houston’s air.”

As it turns out, the air pollution monitors agreed that the air really was bad on Wednesday. On Thursday, Wilson reported that all six air-quality monitors located in the Ship Channel area measured daily fine particle averages in excess of 30 micrograms per cubic meter. The highest daily average, as well as the highest hourly fine particle measurements, he said, occurred at the monitor on Clinton Drive, where we had been standing for the press conference the day before. The Clinton Drive monitor measured fine particles at a daily average of 37 micrograms per cubic meter, nearly reaching level orange, which is the EPA’s “unhealthy” designation.

Wilson said although Wednesday’s high level of particles may be related to the weather, some of the historical increase in fine particles is very likely due to increased industrial activity and shipping activity in the region. He notes that a recent Port of Houston Authority publication touts 2005 as “another record-breaking year” and reports that it had “a nine percent increase in tonnage.”

“The state’s air monitoring data shows that along with higher levels of particles, we’re also seeing higher levels of sulfur,” Wilson said. “That’s consistent with increased diesel pollution, because diesel fuel contains sulfur. Marine diesel fuel, in particular, has a high sulfur content.”

Ana Hernandez represents the district where the monitors with high readings are sited. “My constituents are glad that the local economy is doing well,” she said, “but they also suffer the most from the pollution this activity generates. They pay for the pollution with their health and sometimes their lives.”

Earlier this week Hernandez filed HB 170 to address issues related to toxic air pollution. In part, the bill would require enforceable standards for air quality under the Texas Clean Air Act.

“Not only have state environmental officials failed to adequately address the ozone problem in Houston, they have failed to be proactive in preventing fine particle pollution,” said Wilson. “Thanks to their inaction and delays, Houston may now be in violation of two clean air standards.”