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~\$~~zone alerts mount as state ranks 4th-worst in nation
<br />~~t1'angle has back-to-back `Code Red' warnings
<br />BY MAxY CAxNttcxAEl.
<br />STAFF WRITER
<br />The heat wave has cooled, but something
<br />else is in the air: ozone.
<br />For two days in a row, including today, the
<br />Triangle has been on "Code Red" alert, with
<br />officials warning that ozone levels are dan-
<br />gerously high. t~vo Code Reds in a row are
<br />extremely unusual; the Triangle has had only
<br />six such alerts this summer.
<br />The one-two punch coincides with a report
<br />released Thursday by the Clean Air Network
<br />naming North Carolina the fourth worst state
<br />in the country for ozone levels, behind
<br />Pennsylvania, Michigan and Georgia.
<br />According to the report, North Carolina had
<br />26 "dirty days" exceeding federal ozone lim-
<br />its between April i and July 25.
<br />And the situation is only getting worse.
<br />Almost every day since the report's conclu-
<br />Sion has exceeded the limit -the number
<br />of "dirty days" this summer is now up to 38.
<br />Ozone -the noxious smog produced by a
<br />mix of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and
<br />sunlight = can cause sore throats, chest pain
<br />and even long-term lung damage. But this
<br />week's deceptively cool weather has lured
<br />Triangle residents out of their homes and
<br />into the smog-soaked air..
<br />Meanwhile, the environmentally minded
<br />are battling the smog as best they can.
<br />Chapel Hill offers free bus rides on Code
<br />Red days to keep cars off the road, and some
<br />local restaurants give discounts~`to cus-
<br />tomers who walk instead of drive. And two
<br />weeks ago, Gov Jim Hunt signed into law a
<br />package that regulates vehicle emissions,
<br />which account for 50 percent to 70 percent
<br />of ozone pollution.
<br />Butenvironmentalistssay itwilltake a mas-
<br />siveeffort tocombatthe blanket of ozone cov
<br />Bring the state. Last year, a study ranked
<br />North Carolina second only to California for
<br />high ozone levels.
<br />OZONE
<br />CONTINUED FROM PAGE ~ B
<br />"You guys got stomped on -you
<br />even beat out Texas," said Jane
<br />Mardock, a Clean Air Network rep-
<br />resentative who co-authored the
<br />new report. "This is better than last
<br />year, so you can take comfort in that.
<br />... But personally, I don't think this
<br />is something to claim as a victory."
<br />Mardock also said last year's
<br />summer heat wave -mostly due
<br />to a massive high-pressure system
<br />that hovered over the triangle all
<br />season -would have influenced
<br />the previous numbers. "This year,
<br />that system is hanging over Ohio,"
<br />she said. "So now they're the ones
<br />who are off the charts."
<br />But with six Code Reds and 51
<br />Code Oranges -lower-level days
<br />that still exceed federal limits -
<br />North Carolina is cloaked in smog
<br />again this year.
<br />The state has the right. mix of fac-
<br />torsfor high ozone levels, Mardock
<br />said: humid weather, interstate
<br />highways, mountains, power plants
<br />and dirty neighbors. Eastern states
<br />often get ozone-saturated air
<br />dumped on them from the west,
<br />intensifying the problem.
<br />Some areas of the state, espe-
<br />cially developed areas like the
<br />Triangle and Charlotte, naturally
<br />have high levels. But the new study
<br />also found that rural areas, includ-
<br />ing tiny Flying Pan, a town on the
<br />outskirts of Asheville, might have
<br />levels as high as the cities.
<br />George Murray, who tracks
<br />ozone levels for the state
<br />Department of the Environment
<br />and Natural Resources, said that
<br />wss easy to explain, given that
<br />most of those small towns are nes-
<br />fled in the mountains.
<br />"High elevation ozone does not
<br />decrease in the nighttime like it does
<br />on flat land," he said. "And most of
<br />this is probably transported ozone"
<br />- gases swept into the mountains
<br />from neighboring cities. The large
<br />number of monitors at high eleva-
<br />tions would push up the state's
<br />overall ozone statistics, he said.
<br />Other parts of the state, especially
<br />the coast, have very few monitors.
<br />But overall, North Carolina has the
<br />second-best ozone monitoring sys-.
<br />tem in the country, with 43 func-
<br />tioningmonitors spread across the
<br />state. That might seem environ-
<br />mentallyconscious, but it can actu-
<br />allybolster the number of record-
<br />ed days over the ozone limit.
<br />"Because we have a lot of moni-
<br />tors, we ended up with a lot of mon-
<br />itored days exceeding the stan-
<br />dards," said John White, a
<br />meteorologist with the DENR
<br />Still, the numbers in the Clean Air
<br />Network study are based on eight-
<br />hourday averages of all the sites,
<br />and Murray said counting eight hour
<br />averages instead of momentary
<br />recordings over the limit is abetter
<br />way of measuring ozone levels.
<br />"We definitely need to be wor-
<br />ried," he said. "We don't have the
<br />highest numbers, but we have a lot
<br />of them.... People who are sus-
<br />ceptibleneed to be protected."
<br />Mary Cnnnichael cnn be reached
<br />at 956.4426 or mcarmich@nando.com
<br />SEE OZONE, PAGE 7B
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