By Maria Hickey, KERA 90.1 reporter
Dallas, TX –
Maria Hickey, KERA 90.1 reporter: There have been five red alert days this summer - all of them in the last two months. On those days, high levels of ozone in the air make it unhealthy to spend too much time outdoors. This spring, the Environmental Protection Agency included nine North Texas counties on its list of metropolitan areas that aren't meeting clean-air standards. The Dallas-Fort Worth must submit an implementation plan no later than June of 2007 and meet the new standards by June of 2010. Last month, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announced it's not likely to have that plan ready before the deadline. Environmentalists, like Wendi Hammond with Blue Skies Alliance, say the state is procrastinating.
Wendi Hammond, Executive Director, Blue Skies Alliance: We need to move forward. We've waited too long for our air to start showing significant improvement, but also to be clean again.
Hickey: TCEQ officials say one of the reasons the plan won't be ready sooner, stems from problems with a simulation program the agency is using called "photochemical modeling." The computer-generated models take data about weather conditions and pollution emissions from a high-ozone episode in the past to predict the future.
Brian Foster, Senior Tech Specialist, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality: This photochemical model is a key part of the State Implementation Plan.
Hickey: Senior Tech Specialist Brian Foster says so far the model hasn't produced an accurate picture of the time period it's supposed to recreate. Local leaders who have been pushing for improved air quality are frustrated by the delay. Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher says local officials have told TCEQ they'll do anything to help get the model up and ready.
Margaret Keliher, Dallas County Judge: I'm extremely disappointed with where we are, I don't make any bones about that. I'm very disappointed with the amount of time and effort that's maybe been misspent, ill spent, not spent. I don't know what the issue is. We're ready to step up, as well as a lot of other organizations who are willing to step up, and do something to get the modeling finished and a plan in place.
Hickey: TCEQ is planning to put together a group to see if the problems can be fixed or if another model needs to be created, which would take more time. Foster says either way, the agency plans to meet its deadlines.
Foster: Our hope is to be able to get a plan in sooner than the deadline but that will all depend on how well the photochemical modeling works out.
Hickey: Foster says without the model in place so that TCEQ can plug new emission numbers in, it's impossible to know if the region will meet the EPA's 2010 deadline. But the consequences are known. Judge Keliher says if north Texas fails to meet EPA standards the area could lose millions in transportation dollars.
Keliher: I can't afford to be cut any more dollars than we're already being cut by the current system.
Hickey: Keliher says the health of the area's 5.4 million residents is also a concern. And that's what Wendi Hammond hopes will spur the public to get involved and push officials to do more.
Hammond: The public should say, "Hey, it's time - my child is on asthma medicine; my child loves soccer but has an asthma attack of they're playing, my elderly parent is not able to leave the house to do their normal errands."
Hickey: The next opportunity for the public to get involved is at a public hearing scheduled later this year. For KERA 90.1, I'm Maria Hickey.
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