| Clean Air, Roanoke Valley Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 1. How good is the air in the Roanoke Valley? 2. What are the consequences of poor air quality? 3. Isn't Roanoke always going to have bad air because it is in a valley? 4. What are the causes of poor air quality in the Roanoke Valley? 6. What can INDIVIDUALS do to improve air quality in the Roanoke Valley? 7. What can LOCAL BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENTS do to improve air quality in the Roanoke Valley? 8. What can STATE GOVERNMENT do to improve air quality in the Roanoke Valley 9. What can the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT do to promote clean air in the Roanoke Valley? 1. How good is the air in the Roanoke Valley? Air quality is marginal, based on federal clean air standards. Comparing Roanoke to other large and medium-sized urban areas in 2004, Cities Ranked & Rated gave Roanoke only 17 out of a possible 100 points - quite low. Buffalo, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and other industrial cities all had over 95 points, showing they had much cleaner air. Even mountainous areas such as Scranton, PA (95); Asheville, NC (59); and Huntington, WV (59), and Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol (59) had significantly better air quality. The national average was 45. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 6 major air pollutants harmful to public health: ozone, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), larger particulate matter (PM10), carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. In addition airborne mercury can contaminate water sources. The two primary threats in the Roanoke Valley are fine particulates and ozone. Fine Particulates (PM2.5) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) views fine air particle pollution (PM2.5) as the "most pressing" air quality problem in America. Vehicles and coal-fired power plants emit tons of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that are transformed into ultra fine airborne particles. These particles bypass the body's natural defenses and lodge deep within the lungs. Studies demonstrate that infants and children, especially asthmatic children, the elderly, and anyone with heart or lung disease are highly sensitive to the effects of fine particle pollution. To avoid endangering public health, the EPA requires the following average levels of particulates:
In 2004, Roanoke and Salem barely made the attainment status for the new PM2.5 health standard, and these two locations consistently rank near the bottom for the state of Virginia. In May 2005 the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) installed a real-time PM2.5 monitoring station at Valley View in Roanoke. In its first 7 months, that station registered 115 "yellow" (marginal) days, close to violating the EPA standard. Ozone. Ozone is a gas that protects the earth's surface from ultraviolet rays at very high altitudes but harms living things at lower altitudes. To protect public health, the EPA standard for ozone is:
Statistics for Roanoke are:
Local experts believe that the lower ozone readings in 2002-2005 are due to relatively mild summers in recent years. Other air pollutants. Mercury, carbon dioxide and other air toxics are also present in the Roanoke area. 2. What are the consequences of poor air quality? Poor air quality threatens our lives and our livelihood. Air pollution threatens the life and health of Virginians. Studies conducted for the EPA show that pollution from under-controlled coal-fired power plants here and in other states causes the following health problems in Virginia every year:
More than 2.5 million Virginians live in areas where the air is unhealthful to breathe because of ozone pollution. Nationally, coal-fired plants produce pollution that triggers the premature deaths of an estimated 31,200 Americans each year, shortening their lives by months to years. Nationally, power plants are the largest uncontrolled sources of toxic mercury, which causes permanent damage to the nervous and kidney systems, and threatens fetal development and children's mental health. People ingest mercury when we eat fish from rivers and lakes where high levels have settled in the water. Mercury accumulates in the fish, becoming increasingly toxic. A recent Center for Disease Control study showed that one of every 10 women of childbearing age now have blood levels of mercury that place them and their unborn children at risk. Available control technology could cut power plant emissions of this dangerous pollutant by 90 percent. Air pollution degrades priceless natural treasures in the Commonwealth Shenandoah National Park is the third most-polluted national park, and among the 10 most endangered parks in the country, due to high levels of air pollution. Because of acid precipitation caused primarily by pollution from power plants, streams in Shenandoah continue to become more acidic and less able to support even the acid-tolerant native brook trout. Shenandoah is one of nine national parks that officially fail to meet EPA's health-based limits on ozone pollution. The same pollution that triggers premature human deaths also shrouds scenic views, reducing annual average visibility in the Park to one-quarter the natural range. Nitrogen causes the greatest harm to the Chesapeake Bay. Up to one-third of the nitrogen entering the Bay falls from the air, and almost half of this airborne nitrogen comes from stationary sources. Coal-fired power plants make up more than half of the airborne nitrogen load from stationary sources. Air pollution costs Virginians money The economic costs to Virginia are significant. Poor visibility caused primarily by air pollution from power plants costs the state in excess of $138 million. This is according to an independent analysis by Abt Associates, whose Environmental Research Area provides scientific research and policy analysis to the EPA, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and foreign, state and local governments. The study also concluded that a 25 percent improvement in visibility could yield as much as $30 million in increased sales and tax revenues, and 800 jobs, for local communities surrounding the Shenandoah National Park. Ozone also harms plant life. Ozone at levels found throughout the growing season in Virginia's countryside is costing Virginia farmers up to $19 million annually (2000 analysis) due to reduced crop yields. This figure does not include costs of reduced yields in grapes, one of the crops most vulnerable to reduced yields from ozone. 3. Isn't Roanoke always going to have bad air because it is in a valley? It doesn't have to be that way. While the valley's geography tends to trap air, other mountainous urban areas such as Johnson City, Asheville and Huntington have better overall air quality. Individuals, businesses, and government at all levels can act to make the air healthy in Roanoke Valley. 4. What are the causes of poor air quality in the Roanoke Valley? The primary causes of poor air quality are:
Particulates. The primary cause of particle pollution in Virginia is sulfur dioxide from coal-fired power plants. Other sources include truck and auto exhaust, wildfires, and vegetation. Ozone. Over half the industrially-produced ozone in Virginia comes from coal-fired power plants, which emit oxides of nitrogen (Nox). Trucks and automobiles are the other major contributors. Other air pollutants. Coal-fired power plants emit about 67% of the industrial mercury in Virginia and are also a significant source of carbon dioxide. 5. Won't the power companies shut down their plants altogether if the government enforces laws more strictly? While businesses claim they would shut down plants rather than clean them up, experience suggests otherwise. North Carolina passed a Clean Smokestacks act very similar to the one being proposed in Virginia, and no plant has closed as a result of that act. Sierra Club Chapter Director Mike Town: "states all over the country are requiring stronger clean air rules & plants are not closing. It appears that the only time power companies are able to keep their plants running and clean them up is when they are required to!" 6. What can INDIVIDUALS do to improve air quality in the Roanoke Valley? Over 235,000 people live in the Roanoke Valley, and their individual choices can make a difference in local air quality:
To assure that officials who act in your name do their best to protect the health of you and your family, hold elected and appointed officials responsible for their actions regarding clean air.
7. What can LOCAL BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENTS do to improve air quality in the Roanoke Valley?
8. What can STATE GOVERNMENT do to improve air quality in the Roanoke Valley
9. What can the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT do to promote clean air in the Roanoke Valley?
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Roanoke Group
of the Virginia Chapter
