Utah Moms for Clean Air

March 13, 2009
www.carteretnewstimes.com

Warm weather arrives with the melodic chipping of songbirds preparing their nests. What? Can’t hear them? The steady rumble of lawn mowers not only drowns out nature’s melodies, it disturbs wildlife and sleeping neighbors, and is an unhealthy source of summertime air pollution.

Gasoline-powered lawnmowers will soon have to be dramatically cleaner under new rules issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The long-awaited regulation requires a 35 percent reduction in emissions from new lawn and garden equipment beginning in 2011. The reductions will be the equivalent of removing one out of every five cars and trucks on the road, according to the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.

The EPA said the new rules will save about 190 million gallons of gasoline each year.

Environmental awareness of gasoline engine pollution has sparked a renewed interest in reel mowers. This, coupled with the growing trend of smaller lots and lawns, greatly reduces the need for large, heavy, gas-guzzling mowers.

The new reel mowers in the marketplace today are not your granddaddy’s heavy, hard-to-push, blunt-edged mowers of time past. They’re state-of-the-art, lightweight and give your grass a gorgeous grooming.

Reel Mowers Are:

Environmentally Effective: Reel mowers don’t add any pollution, noise or emission levels into the atmosphere. And, thankfully, there are no gasoline fumes or smell.

Small Size and Right Weight: Reel mowers don’t have many working parts, so they’re smaller and lighter than electric or gas mowers. They’re actually relatively easy to lift, store and push.

Energy-boosting Exercise: They’re a great form of exercise while you accomplish a much-needed outdoor task. You can burn about 400 calories an hour mowing the lawn with a reel mower.

Economically Attractive: Reel mowers are considerably less expensive than gas, electric or battery-powered mowers. And, again, because you’re not using gasoline, they continue to be budget friendly.

Quality of Cut: Reel mowers tend to deliver a superior cut. The sharp blades make clean cuts much like scissors. Traditional rotary mowers actually tear the tips of your grass off, leaving jagged edges that often turn yellow.

Quell the Noise: Because reel mowers don’t have an engine, they make virtually no noise at all. You can mow the lawn whenever you want to without disturbing your family or neighbors.

If you’re ready to “get reel,” a good mower choice is the German-made modern classic Brill Mower 38-reel-mower. The mower offers several benefits:

* It features five blades, the optimal number for superior cutting and ease of pushing.

* Weighs only 17 pounds, light enough to hang on the garage wall or pick up with one hand.

* Eight-inch diameter wheels make it easy to push over tough terrain.

* The manufacturer offers a two-year warranty.

Keep in mind that manual reel mowers don’t cut tall weeds well, but they do great on grass. Because of the design, the reel will roll over tall weeds without cutting much. So they aren’t a good choice to mow a vacant lot, or overgrown areas of the landscape.

You can also go gas free but add a little power to your push, opting for cordless electric reel mowers. Like the manual reel mower, no gasoline is required, which makes for a much quieter mowing experience without the pollution of the gas mowers.

Brill also makes the Brill Razorcut Accu 38, the newest addition to the Razorcut line of reel mowers. It has a 24 Volt cordless electric motor, can cut up to 2,500 square feet of grass when fully charged, and weighs just 29 pounds.

Reel or electric, your lawn will love it. A good sharp reel mower will leave your lawn in beautiful shape. You can also get bag attachments for many of the models.

For more information on reel and electric mowers as well as environmentally friendly lawn and garden supplies visit www.cleanairgardening.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

ScienceDaily (Apr. 30, 2009) — The 10th annual American Lung Association State of the Air report released April 29 finds that six out of ten Americans–186.1 million people — live in areas where air pollution levels endanger lives.

State of the Air 2009 acknowledges substantial progress against air pollution in many areas of the country, but finds nearly every major city still burdened by air pollution. Despite America’s growing “green” movement, the air in many cities became dirtier. The State of the Air report includes a national air quality “report card” that assigns A-F grades to communities across the country. The report also ranks cities and counties most affected by the three most widespread types of pollution (ozone—or smog, annual particle pollution, and 24-hour particle pollution levels) and details trends for 900 counties over the past decade.

This should be a wake-up call. We know that air pollution is a major threat to human health,” said Stephen J. Nolan, American Lung Association National Board Chair. “When 60 percent of Americans are left breathing air dirty enough to send people to the emergency room, to shape how kids’ lungs develop, and to kill, air pollution remains a serious problem.”

“We need to renew our commitment to providing healthy air for all our citizens—a commitment the United States made almost 40 years ago when Congress passed the Clean Air Act,” Connor said. “After four decades, we still have much work to do. America needs to cut emissions from big polluters like coal-fired power plants and ocean-going vessels. We need to fix old dirty diesel engines to make them cleaner and strengthen the ozone standards to better protect our health. We also need to improve the decaying infrastructure of air monitors. America must now enforce the laws that help us improve our nation’s air quality.”

As America faces the challenges of air pollution, global warming and energy, the American Lung Association urges Congress, the EPA and individuals to choose solutions that help solve all three challenges together. Some steps that sound like good solutions for one problem can make air pollution worse.

Americans can make personal changes to improve air quality immediately and ultimately impact climate change as well: drive less; don’t burn wood or trash; use less electricity; and make sure local school systems require clean school buses.

Cleanest Cities In USA

Cleanest U.S. Cities for Short-term Particle Pollution (24 Hour PM2.5)
*Cities below had equal scores.
Alexandria, La.
Amarillo, Texas
Austin-Round Rock, Texas
Bismarck, N.D.
Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville, Texas
Cheyenne, Wyo.
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Corpus Christi-Kingsville, Texas
Fargo-Wahpeton, N.D.-Minn.
Farmington, N.M.
Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo.
Grand Junction, Colo.
Longview-Marshall, Texas
Midland-Odessa, Texas
Oklahoma City-Shawnee, Okla.
Portland-Lewiston-South Portland, Maine
Pueblo, Colo.
Redding, Calif.
Salinas, Calif.
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, Calif.
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, Calif.
Santa Fe-Espanola, N.M.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
Tucson, Ariz.

10 Cleanest U.S. Cities for Long-term Particle Pollution (Annual PM2.5)
*Cities listed in rank order. Duplicate position numbers indicate ties.
1. Cheyenne, Wyo.
2. Santa Fe-Espanola, N.M.
3. Honolulu, Hawaii
4. Great Falls, Mont.
5. Flagstaff, Ariz.
6. Farmington, N.M.
7. Anchorage, Alaska
8. Tucson, Ariz.
9. Bismarck, N.D.
9. Salinas, Calif.

Cleanest U.S. Cities for Ozone Air Pollution
*Cities below had equal scores.
Billings, Mont.
Carson City, Nev.
Coeur D’Alene, Idaho
Fargo-Wahpeton, N.D.-Minn.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Laredo, Texas
Lincoln, Neb.
Port St. Lucie-Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla.
Sioux Falls, S.D.

Most Polluted Cities in USA

10 U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Short-term Particle Pollution (24 Hour PM2.5)
*Cities listed in rank order. Duplicate position numbers indicate ties.
1. Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.
2. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
3. Bakersfield, Calif.
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
5. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala.
6. Salt Lake City-Ogden-Clearfield, Utah
7. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, Calif.-Nev.
8. Logan, Utah
9. Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.
9. Detroit-Warren-Flint, Mich.

U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution (Annual PM2.5)
*Cities listed in rank order.
1. Bakersfield, Calif.
2. Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
4. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
5. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala.
6. Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
7. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
8. Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
9. Detroit-Warren-Flint, Mich.
10. Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, Ohio

U.S. Cities Most Polluted by Ozone
*Cities listed in rank order.
1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
2. Bakersfield, Calif.
3. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
4. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
5. Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, Texas
6. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, Calif.-Nev.
7. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
8. Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, N.C.-S.C.
9. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.
10. El Centro, Calif.

*This was an abridged version of the article posted on ScienceDaily for the full article see: sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/

The full State of the Air report can be found at www.stateoftheair.org.

Utah’s very own Dr. Arden Pope of Brigham Young University recently published a study showing that Americans have cleaner air to thank for a 5 month increase in life-span compared to 30 years ago.

As reported by the BYU press release:
“Such a significant increase in life expectancy attributable to reducing air pollution is remarkable,” said C. Arden Pope III, a BYU epidemiologist and lead author on the study in the Jan. 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. “We find that we’re getting a substantial return on our investments in improving our air quality. Not only are we getting cleaner air that improves our environment, but it is improving our public health.”

You can see the full report and links to other news coverage of the study here.

For Utah Moms for Clean Air, this is good news. It means all the effort we are putting into cleaning up our air really will pay off. So keep up the good work so we can all enjoy more time on this earth breathing a little easier!

Reported in the New York Times today, “President Obama will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards, two administration officials said Sunday.” Together those 13 states represent half of the cars sold in the US.

Once these stricter emissions standards are in place, “automobile manufacturers will quickly have to retool to begin producing and selling cars and trucks that get higher mileage than the national standard, and on a faster phase-in schedule.”

Utah is not one of the 13 states, but this change will make such a possibility much more conceivable. But it will take convincing our own legislature of the importance of the change.

Read the full story here at the NY TIMES.

bio-bus-at-capitol.JPG

1. Attend the Division of Air Quality Public Hearing, Tues., Jan. 13, 6:30 pm
DEQ Auditorium (Room 101), 168 N. 1950 W., SLC
Show your support by voicing your opinion or just showing up.
(If you need help formulating your ideas, communications Ph.D. student
Brenden Kendall is happy to help. Email: brenden.kendell@gmail.com
It is critical that we fill the auditorium to show the depth of public concern.

2. Submit your comments to the Division of Air Quality by Jan. 15, 2009.
Email: jjenks@utah.gov.

3. Write or call Gov. Huntsman and your state legislators stating your opposition to the petcoke plant.

Locate your legislator
View the state Senate map to find your senator.

Send correspondence to the Governor at
Governor John Huntsman, Jr.
Utah State Capitol Complex
350 North State Street, Suite 200
P. O. Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220

801-538-1000
800-705-2464
Find his email form here.

4. Send an email or letter to the Mayor of West Bountiful: jbehunin@gmail.com
West Bountiful City Hall - 550 North 800 West, West Bountiful, Utah 84087
Even if you don’t live in West Bountiful, pollutants from this proposed plant will affect you if you live along the Wasatch Front.

5. Write a letter to the editor to one or more local newspaper(s) : Salt Lake Tribune, Deseret News, Davis County Clipper

To help you write your letters, please refer to the following talking points, background information, and a sample letter.

Thank you for your participation!

Talking Points

Like coal, petroleum coke is not a clean source of energy. We need to be investing in clean, renewable energy, such as wind, solar and geothermal, all plentiful in Utah.

Consolidated Energy says their plant will contribute just a little more pollution, but it is time to draw the line and reduce the pollutants in the air we breathe. The pollution from this plant would be the equivalent to putting 10,000 additional cars on the road.

The one million pounds of pollution from this plant will permeate the Salt Lake Valley for the next 50 years. The heavy metals from its smokestack will land on every carpet, counter top, playground, garden, and swimming pool and end up on the hands of every child.

This plant is especially dangerous to our children because of the many tons of toxic chemicals and heavy metals called “HAP’s” (Hazardous Air Pollutants) that will be emitted. Even the Utah Department of Environmental Quality that is preparing to approve the permit admits that no amount of exposure to HAPs is safe. Even trace amounts of HAP’s can cause genetic damage, cancer, brain damage, and metabolic and reproductive diseases. The unborn are the most at risk.

This plant is not needed to keep your lights on. Rocky Mountain Power has not asked for this plant and you may not even receive any of its electricity. While your family’s health will be put at risk, you will receive no benefit or compensation.

More pollution in the Salt Lake Valley has a negative economic impact. It discourages new business, stifles existing businesses like tourism, and hurts your property values.

Background Information

What is it? Consolidated Energy Systems is seeking a permit for a 109-megawatt, petroleum coke-fired power plant in West Bountiful, Utah. (This is on the border with Woods Cross, so you may have seen that name mentioned in the press or elsewhere.)

What is petroleum coke? It’s what is left over from refining petroleum, after all the usable elements (gasoline, heating oil, diesel fuel, etc.) have been removed. It is much dirtier than coal, containing higher concentrations of heavy metals, which are released when combusted.

Where would the petroleum coke come from? Montana and Wyoming. This means it must be brought by train or truck. (If shipped uncovered it could contribute to pollution because it is a very dusty material. The Port of Los Angeles has required that petroleum coke be kept covered.)

The preliminary emissions permit from the Division of Air Quality allows the following emissions (in tons per year):

Particulate Matter 10 (PM10) ( 60.9 tons )

Nitrogen Oxides ( 98.1 tons )

Sulfur Dioxide ( 97.8 tons )

Carbon Monoxide ( 98 tons )

Volatile Organic Compounds ( 49 tons )

Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP) ( 9.59 tons )

Single non-metal HAP ( 8.67 tons )

Single metal HAP ( .92 tons )

Particulates: PM10 includes particles 10 microns in diameter or smaller. PM2.5, the subset of PM10 responsible for health effects, is increasingly being tracked instead of PM10. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), long-term particle exposure can lead to a variety of health problems, such as increased hospital admissions, emergency room visits, death from heart or lung diseases. People exposed to particulate pollution may experience reduced lung function, chronic bronchitis and even death. Even short-term exposure is linked to aggravated lung disease, asthma attacks, increased respiratory infections, and higher hospitalization and death rates.

HAPs: Hazardous Air Pollutants, either metal or non-metal. These compounds have been specifically linked to cancer. Petroleum coke is especially high in the metal HAP’s vanadium and nickel, which are carcinogens or likely carcinogens.

What about Carbon Dioxide emissions? This plant is estimated to emit 900,000 to 1,000,000 tons of CO2 per year. This is, of course, one of the major green house gases causing global warming or climate change.

Sample letter
Feel free to state in your own words or insert other points you think are important.

Dear [ insert as appropriate: Division of Air Quality, Governor Huntsman, Representative, Senator, Mayor Behunin] ,

Consolidated energy is seeking a permit to build a 109-megawatt, petroleum coke-fired power plant in West Bountiful, Utah. If approved, the plant would emit a million pounds of air pollution annually into our already impaired airshed. Poor air quality endangers everyone, particularly children, the elderly, and those with respiratory problems. Furthermore, this plant would contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and diminish our environment.

Utahns want clean, renewable energy, not dirty power. Wind and geothermal projects in our state are already proving themselves to be viable. Please protect public health and our planet by stopping the issuance of this permit. Our future deserves better.

Sincerely,

Add your name

August 19, 2008
EPA Press Release
Callie Videtich, 303-312-6434, videtich.callie@epa.gov
Catherine Roberts, 303-312-6025, roberts.catherine@epa.gov
General Inquiries 800 227-8917

Utah’s air quality violates federal fine particulate matter standard

Utah’s Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., was notified today of recommendations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 8 office concerning areas of his state that do not meet the federal health-based fine particle (PM2.5, 24-hour) air quality standard. EPA’s comments are in response to Governor Huntsman’s letter dated Dec. 18, 2007, which detailed his recommendations for which Utah counties or parts of counties should be designated as not attaining the fine particle standard (a.k.a. nonattainment).

Utah is among 25 states nationwide that have counties/areas being formally proposed as nonattainment for failing to meet the PM2.5 standard. This is the first time Utah has had PM2.5 areas identified. “EPA and the State are very concerned about the impact to human health and plan to work closely to address this problem,” said Carol Rushin, Region 8’s Acting Regional Administrator. “Fine particle pollution is one of the most significant barriers to clean air facing our nation today. Helping areas of the country reduce pollution and meet national air quality standards is our top priority.”

According to state-validated air quality monitoring data from 2005, 2006 and 2007, several counties in Utah violated the 24-hour PM2.5 federal standard. Based on this data, EPA has recommended that the counties of Salt Lake and Davis and parts of Utah, Weber, Box Elder and Tooele become a single nonattainment area. Additionally, part of Cache County in Utah and Franklin County in Idaho are proposed as a single nonattainment area. When completed, this nonattainment designation starts a process in which local and state officials develop and implement a plan to reduce PM2.5 pollution.

PM2.5 — approximately 1/30th the size of an average human hair — can aggravate heart and lung diseases and has been associated with a variety of serious health problems including heart attacks, chronic bronchitis and asthma attacks. Sources of PM2.5 include fuel combustion from automobiles, power plants, wood burning, industrial processes and
diesel-powered vehicles such as buses and trucks. In September 2006, EPA dramatically strengthened the fine particle standards to protect public health, tightening the 24-hour standard from 65 to 35 micrograms per cubic meter.

The State of Utah will have 60 days to provide EPA with additional technical documentation in support of its original recommendations. In addition, for the first time EPA is opening a 30-day public comment period on the recommended nonattainment designations. All interested parties are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to submit
comments. Recommendations from states and tribes along with EPA’s responses are available at: http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/2006standards/index.htm.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

• For more information on the designation process for the fine particle standards, and to view individual letters from EPA to states and tribes, go to EPA’s Web site at
www.epa.gov/pmdesignations.

• Can I read the Governors recommendations for each state? Where can I read EPA’s responses?
http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/2006standards/state.htm

• Does Utah have any other nonattainment areas?
http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/greenbk/ancl3.html
http://www.epa.gov/oar/oaqps/greenbk/astate.html
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By The Tribune Editorial Board

Sevier subterfuge: County out to foil efforts of its citizens

It seems that since Sevier County officials failed to keep a citizen initiative that they don’t like off the ballot, they’re willing to try subterfuge to make the vote meaningless. At the least, the county attorney and County Commission are engaged in a campaign of aggressive obfuscation apparently aimed at frustrating the democratic right of their con- stituents to have a voice in determining the county’s future health and welfare. The complicated conflict began when a grass-roots group of citizens objected to construction of the Sevier Power Project near Sigurd. The $600 million plant would burn about 940,000 tons of coal per year and spew CO2 and other pollution over the region.

When the County Commission went ahead and approved the plant anyway, the Right to Vote Committee managed to gather more than enough signatures in just over a week to put the proposal on November’s ballot. Their initiative would stop the power plant by revoking the current permit and requiring that voters approve any conditional-use permit for a coal-fired power plant. The group acted quickly, before a constitutionally suspect state law that bans initiatives and referendums on land-use issues went into effect.
At that point, the County Commission members decided not to object to the voter initiative. Instead, they contrived another tack. The initiative as written amends the “conditional-use permit ordinance.” So these public servants labeled the project a “planned-unit development,” which re quires a different kind of permit. Even if voters approve the initiative, it would not block the Sigurd plant. Cute.

The planned-unit development label is ordinarily applied to residential projects that feature clustered housing and ar eas of open space. A power plant is no PUD. A conditional-use permit, on the other hand, is a variance to allow a project to go forward in a zone where it would otherwise be prohibited. Sevier County Attorney Dale Eyre contends that the Sig urd plant was always referred to as a PUD, but an attorney for the citizens group disputes that in a complaint to the Utah Attorney General’s Office, and says he has documents refer ring to a conditional-use permit for the plant. He also says Eyre did not notify the group of the time period when it could contest wording of the initiative.

Even if the county is innocent of skulduggery in this dispute, which seems highly unlikely, it is obviously guilty of standing in the way of citizens exercising their constitution ally protected right to legislate by initiative. That alone pollutes the atmosphere of Sevier County.

Sidenote:
Utah Moms for Clean Air is calling for a moratorium on any NEW coal-fired power plants in Utah. Fortunately, Rocky Mountain Power has gotten the message and has agreed to a 10-year moratrium on new coal (after which they wil re-access the coal climate). However, the power brokers in Sevier County just wont heed the message. The Sevier County Chapter of Utah Moms for Clean Air, along with two other grassroots citizen groups, is working hard to change their minds!!