Orange County NC Website
• Carbon monoxide (CO) monitor located at 147 East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill . This <br /> monitor has been operated for many years on a seasonal (fall/winter) basis . The monitor <br /> will not likely be run after this fall/winter season because ( 1 ) the EPA is working toward <br /> disinvestments in CO monitoring in the future, (2) the site is a " short-term" special <br /> purpose site, and (3 ) the CO concentrations are low. <br /> • Fine particulate matter (PM2 . 5 ) sampler located at the U . S . EPA National Health and <br /> Environmental Effects Laboratory, 104 Mason Farm Road in Chapel Hill . Samples are <br /> collected for 24 hours every third day . The sampler was set up this year ( 1999) in <br /> response to the addition of PM2 .5 by the EPA to its list of criteria pollutants to be <br /> regulated under the Clean Air Act <br /> Carbon monoxide , an air pollutant generated by combustion sources (e . g . , motor vehicles <br /> and power plants) , has been monitored in Chapel Hill for many years . There have been no <br /> exceedances of the CO standard at the Franklin Street site in recent years . <br /> There are no data available for trends in the air quality for any pollutants other than CO in <br /> Orange County due to the lack of monitoring data . There is not a site for sulfur dioxide <br /> measurements in the County, even though there is a coal-burning power plant in Chapel Hill . <br /> There are no monitoring sites for ozone in Orange County . The state does not intend to site an <br /> ozone monitor in the County . Ozone is not emitted from a source, but is formed by sunlight <br /> driven reactions of other pollutants , especially hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides . Ozone <br /> concentrations peak three to five hours downwind from sources of the precursors . The NC State <br /> Division of Air Quality will use the data from ozone monitors northeast of Orange County and <br /> the Chatham County monitor north of Pittsboro to assess the impact of reacted pollutant <br /> emissions from Chapel Hill/Carrboro . However, due to the absence of a monitor in the County , <br /> the quality of air in the County and the impact of precursor pollutants (nitrogen oxides and <br /> hydrocarbons) from adjacent geographical areas will not be determined . <br /> Ozone , nitrogen oxides , hydrocarbons , PM2 .5 , and PM10 are most likely to be the <br /> pollutants of greatest concern to the County in the coming years . Ozone , in particular, is likely <br /> to be a pollutant of concern because of the EPA proposal to lower the standard and recent ozone <br /> data that suggests that ozone concentrations are exceeding EPA ambient air quality standard on a <br /> more frequent basis in recent years . Because of the exceedances above the standard, the <br /> Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical area (MSA) may be designated as a non- <br /> attainment area . <br /> Air Pollutant Sources in the County <br /> There are two primary categories of sources of air pollutants on stationary and mobile . <br /> Stationary sources include power plants , manufacturing facilities , gas stations , incinerators , etc . <br /> Mobile sources include on-road sources (cars , trucks, buses) and off4oad sources (tractors , <br /> construction equipment, lawn mowers) . In addition to the stationary and mobile sources , air <br /> pollutants such as particulate matter, may be generated from agriculture activities , construction <br /> activities , or open burning . <br /> ii <br />