Georgia's air pollution levels high

Smog season starts today. The American Lung Association released its annual State of the Air report, and the good news is that ozone levels are down across the country.

The bad news? Georgia has two of the most polluted cities in the country.

It’s no surprise to see Atlanta ranked number thirteen on the list of cities with the worst air pollution.

But to find tiny Rome number 24 on the list of Metropolitan Areas Most Polluted by Year-Round Particle Pollution, tied with Philadelphia and Hagerstown, Maryland, came as a shock to some residents.

Eric Lindberg, the county’s environmental service director, questions whether the air pollution here is as bad as it seems:

We know that the monitoring site is actually in a spot you would choose if you wanted to find the worst air, and that’s sort of led to some questions about the quality of the data.

Floyd County has been in non-attainment with the Clean Air Act for the past two years after the Environmental Protection Agency passed more stringent air quality guidelines.

Lindberg said he hopes more bio-diesel-powered school buses and new smoke stacks at a Georgia Power coal-fired power plant will knock Rome off the list next year.

'Unhealthy' Air Pollution Levels

The American Lung Association says 60 percent of Americans live in areas with unhealthy air pollution levels and many of them are in Georgia. Atlanta ranked No. 23 among 25 cities ranked for ozone pollution. Ozone is a reactive gas molecule that's the primary ingredient of smog air pollution and is very harmful to breathe. Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb and DeKalb were among several Georgia counties that earned an 'F' grade for ozone pollution. But the report does suggest Atlanta has seen improvements in air quality over the last decade.

(Associated Press)

Augusta, Columbus make EPA air pollution list

Residents in Augusta and Columbus are at risk for breathing air that is too sooty, according to an Environmental Protection Agency statement on Monday.

The EPA notified elected officials in 211 counties in 25 states that their air quality violated newly tightened daily standards for fine particles of pollution from diesel-burning trucks, power plants, wood-burning stoves and other sources.

Particle pollution can cause heart attacks and strokes, and cause irregular heartbeats, lung cancer and premature births, according to a statement by the American Lung Association, in response to the EPA report.

The regions in question include about 100 million people.

Areas on the EPA's so-called non-attainment list have until 2012 to devise a plan for cleaning their air, and must implement it by 2014.

State and federal agencies collected data on particulate emissions over the past three summers in Muscogee, Harris, and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia, and Lee and Russell counties in Alabama.

Columbus city planning director Rick Jones has said that reaching non-attainment standards could limit federal funding for projects.

Old power plants and factories due for renovation or expansion in these areas must show the EPA that it would not cause further air pollution. It could mean also controls on vehicle emissions and regions having to take pollution into effect when they build new roads.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about air quality issues statewide.

EPD Says Air Will Be Cleaner When New Coal Plant is Built but Environmental Groups Disagree

The state's top environmental regulator for air pollution says the air in eastern Georgia will be cleaner if and when a coal plant is built near Sandersville in Washington County.

Jac Capp, chief of the state environmental protection division's air protection branch, says the plant also won't add to ozone air pollution in Augusta or Macon. Macon is already near two other coal plants, one of them dubbed by environmental groups as the dirtiest in the U.S.

Coal plants are in the process of reducing pollutant emissions as required by federal and state regulations.

Capp says that the proposed new coal plant, Plant Washington, will also have lower emissions of pollutants.

But environmental groups disagree with Capp's comments. They say the goal of EPD should be to not pollute at all.

Ozone triggers respiratory illnesses. The EPD recently recommended, for the first time, that mid-sized cities in Georgia have failed ozone air pollution standards. Her recommendations are required by federal law and based on measures of the ozone. Newer and tougher restrictions this year have contributed to the cities falling into this category. The federal government will ultimately make the decision on whether the cities, which include Augusta, Macon and Columbus.

The state EPD is beginning the permitting process for Plant Washington. But Capp and his staff have already reviewed an extensive proposal for the plant.

Hear audio about Plant Washington:

Jac Capp, Georgia Environmental Protection Division

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Midge Sweet, Georgians for Smart Energy

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Clearing the air in Columbus

In western Georgia, Columbus officials say they believe their city won’t be included in an upcoming nationwide air-pollution report.

State and federal Environmental Protection agencies collected data over the past three summers on particulate emissions in Muscogee, Harris, and Chattahoochee counties in Georgia, and Lee and Russell counties in Alabama.

So-called "non-attainment" of federal air-quality standards would limit federal funding for projects, according to Rick Jones, city planning director.

Columbus is trying to cut air pollution, in part, by limiting idling time for diesel-powered city vehicles, which can be a leading source of particulates.

The report is due out in December.

Columbus: 'Smog Alerts Just A Start'

(Department of Natural Resources)

Air quality in Columbus is worsening, and the city is starting out the New Year with smog alerts.

Federal and State Environmental Protection agency officials are threatening the city with what's know as “non-attainment” of air quality goals. City officials say the designation would sharply curtail business development.
Today's air quality is at 42, considered according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Although the city says it currently meets federal air-quality smog standards, Columbus admits that in 2007, they racked up no less than ten violations for particle pollution.

Columbus Planning Director Rick Jones says, "...it means simply that our air standards don't meet national standards, that the EPA has established... What we're setting up is an email notification system, to let folks know what the air-quality will be for the next day...”

But Jones says the city's cleaning up their act before the 2009 cutoff date.

In September, the city spearheaded a volunteer program with over 60 municipal and local organizations to cut diesel emissions, car idling, limit open burning and raise public awareness of the issue.

Current air quality information is available here: http://www.air.dnr.state.ga.us/columbussmogforecast/

Georgians will be able to sign up for the emails as of next week at the city's website: http://www.columbusga.com/MPO

Click here for more GPB News coverage of pollution issues.

Business groups fighting coal plant ruling

Georgia business groups are appealing a judge's decision to halt the construction of a power plant, warning that the ruling could stall other energy plants and hamper economic development throughout the state.

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce warned Wednesday that the decision could have far-reaching implications, driving up energy costs and preventing the construction of natural gas, oil and biofuel plants across the state.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore's ruling relied on the Supreme Court's decision last year that carbon dioxide could be regulated as a pollutant, and environmental activists said it set a precedent.

In the ruling, Moore contended that federal air pollution laws required permits for all pollutants that could be regulated under the federal Clean Air Act - including carbon dioxide. The gas, which is blamed for global warming, is not currently regulated.

The decision halted the construction of the $2 billion Longleaf Energy Plant, which would become Georgia's first new coal-fired plant in more than 20 years.

Environmental groups praised the decision, saying it will help them stave off 30 other coal plants now in active litigation. At the very least, they said, it's a sign that energy companies will face more challenging legal hurdles over coal-fired power projects.

The plant is expected to create more than 100 full-time jobs and give millions of dollars in tax revenues to Early County, where almost a quarter of the 12,000 residents live in poverty. It would power more than a half-million homes through utilities in Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Each year it would emit as much as 9 million tons of carbon dioxide, worrying critics who say it could cause health problems in a county that already suffers above-average air pollution.

But the chamber contends the ruling went too far, sidestepping the efforts of federal lawmakers and regulators debating whether to regulate the gas.

The chamber claims that the ruling could delay the construction of any "sizable" new building that relies on natural gas for heat - from office buildings to malls.

"It would be devastating," said George Israel, the chamber's chief executive. "It would cause delays in almost everything, from hospital expansions to school auditoriums."

Israel told the Albany Herald newspaper:

“We’re shocked at the decision.”

“If this ruling is allowed to stand, it will not only hinder the ability to supply power to the state, it will have a major negative impact on future economic development in Georgia.”

Israel, local Albany officials and a lawyer for LS Power met with the newspaper on Tuesday to lay out their opposition to the ruling.

The court will decide by Aug. 29 whether to hear the appeal. The Sierra Club, which filed the lawsuit, said the ruling does not affect alternative energy projects.

"Georgia needs to be on the front of the clean energy economy," said Patty Durand, the group's president. "It's too bad the Georgia chamber chooses not to be a leader of a change that's inevitable."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the battle over the Longleaf Power Station.

(With The Associated Press)

Clean Cities Coalition comes to Rome

Just days after Bibb County reached EPA attainment for its levels of air pollution, a new partnership hopes to do the same thing in Northwest Georgia.

There may not be any actual cities in the area, but that isn’t stopping the Clean Cities Coalition from locating its newest office here.

Several Northwest Georgia Counties, like Floyd, Walker and Murray, have high levels of air pollution and are in non-attainment with the EPA.

The Clean Cities Coalition is a project of the US Department of Energy. It partners with local industries to decrease the use of petroleum consumption and already has offices in Macon and Tifton.

Georgia Clean Cities Executive Director Charise Stephens said because there are already two bio-diesel producers in Rome, the area has a head start.

Can you imagine the potential? You have the distributor, you have the producers here, and you have 15 counties that can possibly use the project.

Stephens said the coalition will also work to encourage alternative transportation.

Smog season ends on a plus

Today marks the end of smog season in metro Atlanta and it's been a better year for the city's air pollution. Air quality experts say pollution controls combined with good weather gave the area one of its easiest-breathing summers in a decade. This was the third-best year for air quality since the state started keeping track in 1998.

State EPD Says Four Mid-sized Cities May Face Ozone Pollution Status

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division has made its official recommendation on which cities in Georgia need to clean up their air. This year, in addition to metro Atlanta, four mid-sized cities were recommended to be non-attainment areas. That means they'll have to work harder to curb ground level ozone pollution.

The cities: Augusta, Athens, Macon and Columbus.

The EPD's recommendations are not final. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will ultimately have the final say.

In the meantime, the cities will study how to clean up their air. One big contributor to ozone pollution is automobile traffic. Cities will look at how to reduce those emissions.

Non-attainment would also put tighter controls on industry.

The cities are likely failing now because they're having to meet tougher federal air quality standards. The EPA will make its final decision on the cities' non-attainment status by March 2010. The state would then have three years to come up with a plan to deal with the ozone.

Ozone is a component of smog, which causes respiratory illnesses.

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Judge's ruling halts planned power station (Updated)

In a landmark ruling with national implications, The Fulton County Superior Court today reversed a previous administrative court decision on an Environmental Protection Division (EPD) permit allowing the construction of a coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia.

"We are in a moment of elation," said Justine Thompson a lawyer for Greenlaw, who represent a coalition of local residents and environmental groups that are fighting the plant's construction.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thelma Wyatt Cummings Moore reversed a previous decision by Atlanta Administrative Law Judge Judge Stephanie Howells, giving the go-ahead for the project.

Wyatt said in her ruling regarding the plant's projected carbon dioxide emissions:

"Faced with the ruling in Massachusetts that CO2 is an “air pollutant” under the Act, Respondents are forced to argue that CO2 is still not a “pollutant subject to regulation under the Act.” Respondents’ position is untenable. Putting aside the argument that any substance that falls within the statutory definition of “air pollutant may be “subject to” regulation under the Act, there is no question that CO2 is “subject to regulation under the Act."

Howells, in an 108-page decision reached on January 11th, had ruled affirming the EPD decision to issue an air quality permit:

"...the weight of the evidence demonstrates that limits imposed by EPD are reasonable and supported by law.”

The Houston-based Dynegy Company wants to build the 1200-megawatt Longleaf power plant on the Chattahoochee River in Early County.

The opponents last year filed an appeal to stop the construction. The say the plant would emit unchecked levels of carbon dioxide, and unacceptable amounts of other pollutants.

Proponents say the 1.2-billion dollar project will provide hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for the poor rural area.

The plant would be the first such facility to be built in Georgia in the last 20-years.

Environmentalists said the decision marks the first time that a judge has applied a U.S. Supreme Court finding that carbon dioxide is a pollutant to emissions from an industrial source.

The court's April 2007 decision said the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, which are blamed for global warming.

"We will be taking this decision and making the same arguments to push for an end to conventional coal," said Bruce Nilles, who oversees the Sierra Club's National Coal Campaign.

The plant's developers, LS Power and Dynegy Inc., said they planned to appeal.

"We are surprised with Judge Moore's ruling against us in every respect," said Mike Vogt, a spokesman for the energy plant. He also downplayed the ruling's impact on other pending lawsuits.

"I don't know what type of legal precedent a superior court judge in one state has over judges in other states," he said.

At a June 3 hearing, lawyers representing state regulators and plant developers said there was no federal standard yet to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and warned that a ruling to regulate the gas would "short-circuit" legislators' work to develop new rules.

The plant is expected to create more than 100 full-time jobs and give millions of dollars in tax revenues to Early County, where almost a quarter of the 12,000 residents live in poverty. It would power more than a half-million homes through utilities in Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Each year it would emit as much as 9 million tons of carbon dioxide, worrying critics who say it could cause health problems in a county that already suffers above-average air pollution.

The decision will force state regulators to reconsider coal-fired power plants and could push state regulators toward cleaner and more efficient energy, said Patti Durand, director of the Sierra Club's Georgia chapter.

"It's a scandal that energy companies are still trying to build coal plants even though they cause global warming," she said. "I can't be more thrilled. It's a huge ruling. This is a new day in the United States, and I'm thrilled."

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the Longleaf power station.

(With The Associated Press)

Dozens speak on air pollution proposal

A federal proposal could force the state and private companies to clean up Georgia's air. Dozens of people weighed in Wednesday at a public hearing in Atlanta.

Sherian Wilburn of the Georgia Industry Association told U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials that their proposal to further restrict pollutions would be bad for businesses.

"It will definitely put pressure on manufacturers," Wilburn says. "They'll look elsewhere and we could easily drive jobs offshore."

Wilburn says Georgia has lost 80,000 manufacturing jobs in the past seven years.

But environmentalists came to the hearing in force. Patty Durand of the Sierra Club told regulators that, several times this summer, she would not let her son play outside and she urged her husband not to go running because the smog level was so high it posed a health hazard. Durand says tougher federal ozone standards might be the only thing that will motivate Georgia leaders to act.

"They would be forced to look at transit, whereas right now they're judgmental," Durand says. "It would require them to take care of our air. Right now they're not focused on it."

But Governor Sonny Perdue is siding with industry. In April, he sent a letter to EPA opposing the proposal. In it, he wrote "the science may not be definitive enough to warrant another revision."

The last time the EPA revised its ozone standard was in 1997. It will make a final ruling on its proposal by March.

Dust-up over coal-fired power plant

Environmental groups opened a legal challenge in Atlanta today to halt the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia.

A coalition of activists are challenging a Georgia Environmental Division permit for the 1,200-megawatt facility in Early County, on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. The appeal, submitted by the Sierra Club and residents of Early County opposing the plant, temporarily stays the permit.

The groups claim the permit violates the Georgia Air Quality act and the federal Clean Air act.

“If this coal plant is built, we will have to breathe in even more pollution that is swept in by the winds from south Georgia.” said Justine Thompson of the Center for Law in the Public Interest.

“We have enough pollution in Georgia, and truth be told – we have enough power,” Thompson told reporters at the capitol.

“Dynegy will sell its power to other states, so Georgia will not get most of the power, Georgia will not get the profits – but Georgia will get the pollution,” she said.

Dynegy Inc., a Houston-based energy company, is planning and building the plant together with New Jersey-based LS Power.

The appeal outlines 17 legal reasons which the permit should be denied. It now goes to an administrative law judge.

(Susanna Capelouto)

Coal plant ruling delayed

Environmental groups and a power company clashed in court today over a coal-fired power plant that could be built in Southwest Georgia. Environmentalists asked the judge to reconsider the state’s decision to issue an air pollution permit to the power company. They say the state agency didn't address carbon dioxide emissions, and that the proposed plant doesn't use the best technology to control pollution. The judge has 30 days to issue her ruling.

Coal power plant construction challenged in court

Environmental groups and a power company will clash in court today over a coal-fired power plant that could be built in southwest Georgia’s Early County.

Environmentalists ask the judge to reconsider the state’s decision to issue an air pollution permit to the power company. They say the permit doesn’t regulate the plant’s carbon dioxide emissions.

The majority of scientists say carbon dioxide is the leading cause of global warming.

The case is among the first challenges against coal-fired plants filed since the Supreme Court’s April 2007 ruling that carbon dioxide could be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Firm Says Proposed Power Plant Still On Track

The Houston-based Dynegy Corporation said on Friday it was walking away from the joint venture with New York's LS Power to construct a coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia.

Dynegy says they took the decision due to tight credit markets and economic uncertainty.

However, LS Power, who’ll own 100-percent of the proposed $2 billion facility, say they're going ahead with the project, set along the Chattahoochee River.

Project Manager Mike Vogt:

"We're going to push forward with the development of this plant, and ultimately customers -- hopefully in Georgia -- will decide that it does have a place and will decide that it does have a place."

Vogt says his company is also appealing a court decision from late last year that halted the project over air pollution concerns:

"The briefings will be finished in January 2009, and the court of appeals will make their decision sometime before June of 2009."

Environmentalists say the facilities' smokestacks will emit unchecked amounts of carbon dioxide, sulfur, and coal dust.

Supporters of the project say it’ll bring hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax-revenue to Early County – one of the state's poorest.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the proposed Longleaf Power plant.

Chemical plant may build in Augusta

Plans to locate a chemical plant in Augusta are closer to reality.

A city engineering committee has approved a rezoning request for the plant.

The company Southern Ionics would manufacture aqua ammonia, a chemical used to reduce air pollution in smokestacks.

The company would also transport sodium bisulfite solution, which is used in wastewater treatment.

Gill Craig, the plant manager for Southern Ionics in Augusta, says the company has strict safety guidelines.

"I think a lot of it goes with the level of oversight that the federal and state governments have over industries such as ourselves and number two they understand the type of company we are and the safety record we do have," says Craig.

But some neighbors in the area worry about their safety, fearing a chemical accident.

The company manufactures chemicals in five southern states.

It currently operates a temporary facility for the transloading of sodium bisulfite in Augusta.

The issue will go before the Augusta Richmond county commission on January 15.

Carpooling comes to Columbus

(Courtesy Clean Air Campaign)

Soaring gas prices are making carpooling an appealing option to more and more Georgians. Columbus in southwestern Georgia has limited mass transit, but is helping people cope with pain at the pump by promoting carpooling.

The Clean Air Campaign and the Air Quality Alliance of the Chattahoochee Valley offer the money-saving measure:

“There are several options available to people who would like alternative means of commuting to their job, and there are options for commuters who are currently driving alone, and would like to begin using a clean-commute alternative," according to Tracy Hall of the Columbus City Planning Department. "There are also rewards available for people who are already carpooling."

Hall says carpoolers can get a monthly gas card worth forty to sixty dollars, by logging their travel distance through a website.

Several Columbus-area companies have already signed up, TSYS among them. The Georgia Department of Transportation-funded program is available to commuters statewide.

More details are online at www.commuterrewards.com and at www.cleanaircampaign.com.

Detailed fuel prices statewide are available here.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about pollution issues statewide.

Burn ban ends in Georgia

The state's seasonal burn ban ends today.

But burning trash can be dangerous right now, with an increase of fire spreading due to extremely dry weather.

Officials say people should not burn when there are high winds and low humidity, according to the Associated Press.

The ban lasted from May 1 to September 30.

The state imposed it to cut down on air pollution.

Gilmer County breaks smog standard

Gilmer County in north Georgia county recorded the state's worst smog yesterday – the first day of smog season. Gilmer County, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, broke federal ozone standards. A spokesperson says it's because Atlanta's air pollution blows north. Other Georgia counties have been caught with high levels of ground-level ozone this year. On April 17th, Augusta, Macon, Athens and the town of Dawsonville violated the limit.