Region's clean-air plan is flawed, engineer reports
Posted on Sat, Dec. 15, 2007
By SCOTT STREATER
Star-Telegram staff writer
The Dallas-Fort Worth area will never meet federal clean-air standards unless the state targets ozone-forming pollution from cement plants, natural gas compressor engines and other sources that affect Tarrant and Denton counties.
That's one of the findings in a new study by Al Armendariz, a Southern Methodist University chemical engineer who has advised local advocates on ozone issues. Armendariz analyzed ozone patterns over the past 10 years and found that pollution levels have remained the same or risen slightly in Tarrant and Denton counties as they decreased elsewhere.
He attributed this to the increase in compressor engines used to produce natural gas in the Barnett Shale and to the cement plants in Ellis County, southeast of Fort Worth.
Yet a state clean-air plan for the Dallas-Fort Worth region mostly focuses on pollution that affects Frisco, in Collin County, even though the highest ozone levels in the past five years have been recorded in Tarrant County.
Armendariz said the state needs a new plan focusing on "those sources that affect Tarrant County and Denton County, because those are the sources that are putting everybody above the federal standard."
State regulators say revising the plan would take months and delay efforts to clean the air.
"Our thought process is we need to move forward as quickly as possible to bring the area into compliance," said Andy Saenz, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
OZONE PROBLEMS
THE STUDY
Al Armendariz, a chemical engineer at Southern Methodist University, studied ozone patterns and ozone-forming pollutants over the past 10 years and concluded that a state plan for reducing ozone in Dallas-Fort Worth is flawed. Armendariz shared his study this week with the Environmental Protection Agency's regional office in Dallas. The EPA, which has expressed concern about the state plan, will not comment until it has finished its review of the plan, EPA spokesman Dave Bary said.
THE PROBLEM
Armendariz's study lists two main reasons that ozone-forming pollutant levels have remained steady, particularly in Tarrant County:
Gas compressor engines: The state has already conceded that it seriously undercounted the engines being used to compress natural gas produced in the Barnett Shale. It is trying to get a more accurate count. The state plan calls for emission controls on these engines.
Cement plants: While automakers and coal-fired power plants have been forced to cut emissions significantly in the past decade, the cement plants in Ellis County have not achieved similar reductions, according to Armendariz's study. The state plan calls for those plants to cut emissions by 40 percent.
THE SOLUTION
Armendariz said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must completely revise the State Implementation Plan that it approved in May. Armendariz compared Texas' plan with nine others and determined it "has the weakest computer modeling of any in the country." The problem, he said, is that the model is based on a sequence of high-ozone days in August 1999, when levels were highest in Frisco and Denton. That information is an "abnormality" within the past decade, he said. State regulators say the plan offers the best chance for the D-FW region to meet clean-air standards for the first time in decades.
THE CEMENT INDUSTRY
The three cement kilns in Midlothian -- Ash Grove Cement, Holcim and TXI Operations -- are the largest industrial sources of ozone-forming pollution in Dallas-Fort Worth. But industry officials say they are making significant strides in reducing pollution. Ash Grove and Holcim have installed equipment in the last two years that can chemically alter some emissions into harmless water vapor. This has allowed Holcim to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides -- the principal manmade component of ozone -- by half in the past year, Holcim spokeswoman Susana Duarte de Suarez said. Ash Grove said it has slashed such emissions by nearly half since 1995 and is installing controls that will cut 30 percent more by next year.
LOCAL ACTION
The state plan has been widely criticized as weak. In July, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley asked Richard Greene, the EPA's regional administrator, to strengthen the plan, in part because he wants cement plants cut pollution more. In September, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster asked Gov. Rick Perry to make the state plan stronger.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Ozone can trigger asthma attacks and aggravate emphysema, bronchitis and other respiratory problems. Children, older adults, people with respiratory problems and those who work outside are at greatest risk. Dallas-Fort Worth does not meet federal ozone standards and faces a 2010 deadline to meet them or face severe federal sanctions.
By SCOTT STREATER
Star-Telegram staff writer
The Dallas-Fort Worth area will never meet federal clean-air standards unless the state targets ozone-forming pollution from cement plants, natural gas compressor engines and other sources that affect Tarrant and Denton counties.
That's one of the findings in a new study by Al Armendariz, a Southern Methodist University chemical engineer who has advised local advocates on ozone issues. Armendariz analyzed ozone patterns over the past 10 years and found that pollution levels have remained the same or risen slightly in Tarrant and Denton counties as they decreased elsewhere.
He attributed this to the increase in compressor engines used to produce natural gas in the Barnett Shale and to the cement plants in Ellis County, southeast of Fort Worth.
Yet a state clean-air plan for the Dallas-Fort Worth region mostly focuses on pollution that affects Frisco, in Collin County, even though the highest ozone levels in the past five years have been recorded in Tarrant County.
Armendariz said the state needs a new plan focusing on "those sources that affect Tarrant County and Denton County, because those are the sources that are putting everybody above the federal standard."
State regulators say revising the plan would take months and delay efforts to clean the air.
"Our thought process is we need to move forward as quickly as possible to bring the area into compliance," said Andy Saenz, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
OZONE PROBLEMS
THE STUDY
Al Armendariz, a chemical engineer at Southern Methodist University, studied ozone patterns and ozone-forming pollutants over the past 10 years and concluded that a state plan for reducing ozone in Dallas-Fort Worth is flawed. Armendariz shared his study this week with the Environmental Protection Agency's regional office in Dallas. The EPA, which has expressed concern about the state plan, will not comment until it has finished its review of the plan, EPA spokesman Dave Bary said.
THE PROBLEM
Armendariz's study lists two main reasons that ozone-forming pollutant levels have remained steady, particularly in Tarrant County:
Gas compressor engines: The state has already conceded that it seriously undercounted the engines being used to compress natural gas produced in the Barnett Shale. It is trying to get a more accurate count. The state plan calls for emission controls on these engines.
Cement plants: While automakers and coal-fired power plants have been forced to cut emissions significantly in the past decade, the cement plants in Ellis County have not achieved similar reductions, according to Armendariz's study. The state plan calls for those plants to cut emissions by 40 percent.
THE SOLUTION
Armendariz said the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality must completely revise the State Implementation Plan that it approved in May. Armendariz compared Texas' plan with nine others and determined it "has the weakest computer modeling of any in the country." The problem, he said, is that the model is based on a sequence of high-ozone days in August 1999, when levels were highest in Frisco and Denton. That information is an "abnormality" within the past decade, he said. State regulators say the plan offers the best chance for the D-FW region to meet clean-air standards for the first time in decades.
THE CEMENT INDUSTRY
The three cement kilns in Midlothian -- Ash Grove Cement, Holcim and TXI Operations -- are the largest industrial sources of ozone-forming pollution in Dallas-Fort Worth. But industry officials say they are making significant strides in reducing pollution. Ash Grove and Holcim have installed equipment in the last two years that can chemically alter some emissions into harmless water vapor. This has allowed Holcim to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides -- the principal manmade component of ozone -- by half in the past year, Holcim spokeswoman Susana Duarte de Suarez said. Ash Grove said it has slashed such emissions by nearly half since 1995 and is installing controls that will cut 30 percent more by next year.
LOCAL ACTION
The state plan has been widely criticized as weak. In July, Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley asked Richard Greene, the EPA's regional administrator, to strengthen the plan, in part because he wants cement plants cut pollution more. In September, Dallas County Judge Jim Foster asked Gov. Rick Perry to make the state plan stronger.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Ozone can trigger asthma attacks and aggravate emphysema, bronchitis and other respiratory problems. Children, older adults, people with respiratory problems and those who work outside are at greatest risk. Dallas-Fort Worth does not meet federal ozone standards and faces a 2010 deadline to meet them or face severe federal sanctions.
posted by Downwinders At Risk at
10:35 AM
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