Utah Moms for Clean Air

Earlier this week, Utah Moms for Clean Air sent a letter to the director of the Division of Air Quality regarding their annual Air Monitoring Network Plan. Below is the text of the letter sent to Cheryl Heying, that was also copied to the Governor, his energy advisor Dianne Nielson, and the Director of the Department of Environmental Quality, Rick Sprott.

Ms. Cheryl Heying, Director
Division of Air Quality
150 N. 1950 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84116

Re Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan

Utah Moms for Clean Air is working hard to achieve clean air for everyone, but especially for our children, and we would like to work with the Division of Air Quality in these efforts. This is why we wish to express our concerns over the changes in monitoring proposed in the Annual Air Monitoring Network Plan.

The new air monitoring plan calls for the discontinuation of 30 tests for pollutants and meteorological data at monitors around the state. Many of these discontinuations occur along the Wasatch Front, one of the most polluted areas in the State, and our fastest growing region.

Particularly troubling to us is the discontinuation of testing for ozone and PM2.5 at seven and nine monitoring sites respectively. Moreover, ozone and PM2.5 are two of the most lethal pollutants in our air. EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson has stated that current ozone standards are insufficient to protect public health and is proposing more stringent standards. If these proposed standards are implemented, it is likely that Utah will be in noncompliance.

We feel that we need to increase monitoring, not decrease it. We note that the DAQ proposes adding two NO2 testing sites and we believe this is the right direction to go for the sake of Utahns’ health, especially our children.

We urge you to rethink the proposed Air Monitoring Network Plan and, at least, maintain current levels of testing or, even better, increase the monitoring stations and the number of pollutants tested, including mercury.

Sincerely,

The Founder and Co-founders of Utah Moms for Clean Air

Cc: Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Dianne R. Nielson
Rick Sprott

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! SAY “TIME OUT” OVER HUGE NEW PROPOSED COAL PLANTS UPWIND FROM UTAH

Background

The state of Nevada is proposing three new monstrous coal-fired power plants, literally just over the border from Utah. The White Pine Energy Station and the Ely Energy Center together would comprise over 4,000 megawatts of power, enough for over 200,000 new homes in Las Vegas, already the sprawl capitol of the world. These plants would be located approximately 150 miles (as the crow flies) upwind from the Wasatch Front and immediately upwind of Great Basin National Park. The Toquop Energy Plant (pronounced Towkwop), a 750-MW coal plant would be located just outside of Mesquite, Nevada and immediately upwind from St. George and all of Washington County.

In terms of new coal power concentration, this is one of the largest proposed in the nation. And two remarkable ironies are that while Nevada has no coal industry (all of the coal would be shipped in from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming), it has some the best available solar resources in the world. Once again King Coal is calling the shots when it comes to future energy supplies, at the expense of our health and the planet.

Take Action

It’s time to call for a TIME OUT. Nevada activists are already calling on Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons to issue a time out until state and federal regulators develop policies to regulate carbon dioxide and to also consider the impacts to air quality. Let’s join in the call. Please consider sending a letter to Governor Jim Gibbons with the following message, or one of your own. Then copy your letter to the additional officials listed below. You can also send a letter to Utah’s Governor Huntsman asking him to put pressure on Governor Gibbons to take a time out from coal, as these issues are regional issues, not just state issues.
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Last week, Utah Moms for Clean Air invited C. Arden Pope III to give an overview of the science on air pollution and health at a meeting held at Westminster College.

C. Arden Pope’s studies began with the question:
Are day-to-day changes in air pollution in Utah’s Wasatch Front associated with changes in lung function, respiratory symptoms, medication use and/or school absences?

The answer: Yes.

Dr. Pope’s work on the subject over the past 20 years included the example of Utah Valley, where scientific study began soon after a group of mothers voiced concerns about their children’s health. What makes the study of Utah Valley so valuable is a period when the valley’s main pollutor, Geneva Steel, shut down for a year and a half. Measures clearly show declines in health effects during this period. The data accumulated.

The Utah Valley studies and many other studies of air pollution show clear effects on health. Dr. Pope illustrated his lecture with images, graphs, and citations that showed not only respiratory effects but cardiopulmonary effects of air pollution.

I overheard the woman in front of me say this information made her want to cry. I felt that way myself. The overwhelming truth of the health effects of the air we allow our children to breathe leaves me stunned. It would be easy to remain stunned and passive, trying to not hear what we’ve come to know from both personal experience and an abundane of scientific data.

But, Utah Moms for Clean Air refuses to remain either stunned or passive. After the fact of health effects from our dirty air, the most important point in Dr. Pope’s presentation was his professional opinion that we can make this change. This isn’t a hope for change but an expectation that we can put our feet on the ground, our hands on the phone, and tell other Utah parents what we know. Utahns can demand the changes necessary to have cleaner air.

• View Dr. Pope’s Power Point presentation.

Wednesday, June 27th, will be a Red Air Quality Action day in Utah County, which includes the designation “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” Have you noticed the smoke from fires over the last few days? Do you want to breathe that?

CACHE County: Air Quality Condition: Moderate-Green
Health advisory: None

SALT LAKE & DAVIS counties: Air Quality Condition: Moderate- Yellow Air Quality Action
Health Advisory: None.

UTAH County: Air Quality Condition: Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups-Red Air Quality Action
Health Advisory: Sensitive people (those with respiratory or heart disease, the elderly and children)
should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

WEBER County: Air Quality Condition: Moderate- Yellow Air Quality Action
Health Advisory: None.

Learn more about air quality, health advisories, and what you can do to reducee the air pollution we breathe in Utah:

• Clean Air Utah
• Division of Air Quality

If you prefer phone alerts, call these numbers.

More information is also available on the Air Pollution Hotline. Air Quality Conditions are updated twice daily, once in the morning and again in the afternoon.
1. Residents in Salt Lake and Davis counties may call (801) 975-4009.
2. Residents in Utah and Weber counties may call (800) 228-5434.

‘Activists Will Go Door to Door To Fight Mountain View Corridor’, June 22, 2007 by Eric Ray. Will Spread Message About Dangers of Air Pollution, Posted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2007 KCPW.
‘Most Utah cities would flunk proposed EPA air quality standards’
Unhealthy ozone levels, by Judy Fahys, The Salt Lake Tribune,06/22/2007.
KPCW’s Midday Utah
Monday, June 18, 2007 09:10 AM.- Cherise Udell, Founder of Utah Moms for Clean Air
Cherise Udell talks about the organization’s agenda and their upcoming events, which includes a presentation by BYU Professor Arden Pope — a renowned researcher on the health affects of air pollution — the evening of Tuesday the 19th at Westminster College.

From left to right: Pat Sanders, Jennifer Whitlock, Lori Taylor, Cherise Udell, Governor John Huntsman, Dana Clark, Aviana and Cameron Cova, Heidi McIntosh, Travis Harvey, Michelle Hofmann

The co-founders of Utah Moms for Clean Air had another fantastic “win” on Tuesday June 19. We were invited to meet with Governor John Huntsman to discuss our concerns for clean air and to hear the Governor’s plans. Dianne Neilson, the new State Director of Environmental Quality, was also present for the meeting. Governor Huntsman committed that air quality was one of this top 3 concerns for his administration, and the one he plans to fast-track the most. He was very receptive to the ideas posited by by Utah Moms and shared with us a few of his own plans.

The Governor expects some pushback from the Utah legislature and one of the ways Utah Moms for Clean Air can be very effective in public policy is by contacting your legislators and letting them know that clean air is important to you and you are watching. Here is a Utah Senate district map to help you contact your senator. Here is a Utah House district map to help you contact your representative. The Governor wants to continue the dialogue and has invited us back within a few weeks. Yay for Utah Moms for Clean Air!

Air Quality and Health Advisories for today, Friday, June 15th.

CACHE County: Air Quality Condition: YELLOW
Health advisory: NONE

SALT LAKE & DAVIS counties: Air Quality Condition: RED
Health Advisory: Unhealthy for people with respiratory diseases, the elderly, and children.

UTAH County: Air Quality Condition: RED
Health Advisory: Unhealthy for people with respiratory diseases, the elderly, and children.

WEBER County: Air Quality Condition: RED
Health Advisory: Unhealthy for people with respiratory diseases, the elderly, and children.

Sign up with the Utah Department of Air Quality to receive air quality & health advisory alerts by email.

Today, Thursday, June 14, is a Yellow Alert Day.

CACHE County: Air Quality Condition*: YELLOW

SALT LAKE & DAVIS counties: Air Quality Condition: YELLOW

UTAH County: Air Quality Condition: YELLOW

WEBER County: Air Quality Condition: YELLOW

With temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees, Friday and Saturday will be RED ALERT days. For current conditions and advisories, see the Utah Division of Air Quality.

What can you do?

• Stay indoors, especially children and those who already have breathing problems.
• Drive less. Car exhaust is one of the contributors. Ground-level ozone is formed when the waste from cars, power plants and elsewhere (NOx, CO, VOCs) react in sunlight.
• Prevent evaporation when filling your gas tank and from other common household chemical products.