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Wednesday, May 4, 2016
Colorado Fails to Clean up Smog Pollution Along Front Range

Attempts to Clear the Air Falling Short as EPA Finds State Failing to Protect Public Health
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 437-7663 jnichols@wildearthguardians.org

Denver—Clean airalong Colorado’s Front Range continues to suffer as the U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency today found that the state has failed to meet limits on smogpollution meant to protect public health.

“Governor Hickenlooper and his Department of Public Healthand Environment just don’t seem to get it, clean air isn’t just important, it’scritical for our health and quality of life,” said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarthGuardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director. “It’s time for the state tostop failing when it comes to keeping smog out of our skies; it’s time toactually put our health and our environment first.”

In a notice published in today’sFederal Register, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that theDenver-Boulder-Greeley-Ft. Collins-Loveland, Colorado area “failed to attain,”or to meet, federal limits on ground-level ozone, the key ingredient of smog. Thisregion was deemed to be a “nonattainment area,” or a dirty air area, in 2012because of excessive ozone.

Under the Clean Air Act, the state was required to bring theFront Range into compliance with smog limits by July of 2015. Colorado failedto meet this deadline.

The finding comes on the heels of the American LungAssociation’s State of the Air report, which confirmed that the state is failingto protect public health from ozone pollution in eight Colorado Front Rangecounties—Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld.

Ozone forms when pollution from tailpipes, smokestacks, andoil and gas operations reacts with sunlight. Although up high, ozone protectsthe Earth from ultraviolet radiation, down low, the poisonous gas is a serious publichealth risk.

Today’s announcement underscores that state efforts toreduce air pollution, particularly from the oil and gas industry, are fallingshort. Although the state has tightened emission limits for oil and gasoperations, which recent state inventories continue to confirm is largestsource of ozone forming pollution along the Front Range, the regioncontinues to fail to meet smog limits.

“The writing on the wall is clear, the state’s pollutionreduction efforts are falling dangerously short,” said Nichols. “GovernorHickenlooper needs to wake up to the fact that when it comes to protecting ourclean air, failure is not an option.”

In 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency set ahealth-based limit on ozone in the air, limiting concentrations to no more0.075 parts per million over an eight-hour period. Responding to new scientificrecommendations, in 2015 the Agency set a new limit of 0.070 parts per millionover an eight-hour period.

According to the Departmentof Public Health and Environment, four monitors along the Front Range,currently show violations of the 2008 ozone standard and 10 monitors arecurrently in violation of the new ozone standard.

Today’s finding is a determination that after eight years, theFront Range still has failed to meet the 2008 limits. It also underscores thatthe state is likely not on track to bring the region into compliance with the2015 ozone standard.

“If the state continues to avoid doing what is necessary toreduce smog pollution, people along the Front Range can expect to be smotheredin smog for years to come,” said Nichols. “That would not only unacceptable,that would border on a crime against public health.”

The consequences of today’s finding are that the state nowfaces more mandatory pollution clean up requirements under the Clean Air Act,including more rigorous tailpipe testing mandates and vapor recovery systemsfor gasoline stations. All polluters along the Front Range also face tightenedemission limits and more controls.

If the state continues to fail to bring theFront Range into compliance with ozone limits, the state faces sanctions fromthe Environmental Protection Agency, including lost highway funding, and evenmore restrictive pollution control requirements.