Published: October 12, 2009 05:10 pm      

Off one list — 010/13/09

Quality of Boyd County’s air continues steady improvement

Boyd County’s removal from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s non-attainment list for 24-hour fine particulate matter standards does not mean that the quality of this community’s air has improved to the point that it no longer discourages economic development, but it certainly is a step in the right direction. More importantly, it is a clear indication that the quality of our air is improving, and that’s good news for the health of all of us who have to breathe that air.

The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet announced Friday that Boyd and eight other Kentucky counties will be removed from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s non-attainment list for 24-hour fine particulate matter standards. However, the county remains a non-attainment area for annual fine particulate matter standards.

All 120 Kentucky counties now meet the EPA’s 24-hour fine particulate matter standard, the EEC said. The EPA’s decisions to remove the non-attainment designation from those areas is based on the inclusion of 2008 data in a three-year average of particulate matter measurements. Previous designations were based on a three-year average taken from air monitoring data collected between 2005 and 2007.

Kentucky environmental officials touted the news as “continuing proof that Kentucky’s air quality is improving even in the face of ever lowering standards,” said John Lyons, director of the EEC’s Division of Air Quality. “This trend is tremendous news for the thousands of Kentuckians who suffer from cardio and pulmonary diseases.”

While we tend to blame industries for much of this community’s poor air quality, one of biggest sources of local air pollution comes from trucks and automobiles. In fact, Lyons cites raising miles per gallon standards for vehicle engines, along with the production of cleaner burning fuels, as holding the greatest potential for further improving Boyd County’s air quality. Trains and barges also help foul our air and making them more fuel efficient will further improve our air quality.

“We’ve wrung most of what we can get out of the steel mills and the power plants,” Lyons said.

However, Lyons added there are some upcoming additional industrial upgrades — most notably the addition of scrubbers to be in place at Kentucky Power’s Big Sandy Plant near Louisa by 2014 — that will also improve local air quality.

Our air may never be pure and pristine like in some areas, but those of us who have lived here many years can attest to the fact that our air quality is a lot better than it used to be — and it’s getting better all the time.