Valley’s carbon monoxide marks best in two decades

Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 | 11:08 a.m.

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Las Vegas Valley didn't exceed federal standards for carbon monoxide air pollution last year.

Although the valley didn't fare as well with other pollutants such as dust, the valley was in the "moderate to good range" throughout 1999 for carbon monoxide, said Michael Naylor, director of the Clark County Health District's Air Pollution control Division.

Carbon monoxide, mostly produced by burning gasoline in cars and other vehicles, is colorless and odorless. The federal Environmental Protection Agency sets basic air quality standard for the gas at nine parts per million over an eight-hour average.

The valley's monitoring station near East Charleston Boulevard and Eastern Avenue averaged about two days over that standard from 1992 through 1998. But last year the station didn't record any days over the standard.

That's a considerable improvement over conditions in the 1980s, when the health district recorded a minimum of 18 days over the standard in 1987 and a maximum of 41 in 1985. The health district began monitoring the gas in 1971.

"That marks the first time since we started measuring carbon monoxide that we had no excess levels for the entire year," Naylor said. "It shows a considerable drop in the last 15 years."

But dust remains an ongoing headache and health threat in the Las Vegas Valley.

Smaller than the diameter of a human hair, the dust is a concern to health experts because it can be breathed deep into lungs.

At the 13 valley stations monitoring the dust, known as Particulate Matter 10, or simply PM10, there were 22 "exceedance episodes" last year, up from seven in 1998 and 19 in 1997.

"But 1999 was a drier year with a lot more wind gusts," Naylor said.

Rainfall and wind are key elements in determining how much dust will fly into the air and into our lungs, he explained. Rainfall helps control the spread of PM10.

Although Naylor said more needs to be done to control fine dust, he said the region is making progress. In 1996 the area had 49 exceedance episodes, and there were 27 in 1995.

He said that isn't bad when one considers that there is a lot more construction activity happening in the valley. Construction activity, such as land grading, is thought to be one of the primary contributors to PM10 in the air.

About 86 percent of the airborne dust in the valley comes from construction, road dust, vacant lots, unpaved roads and unpaved parking lots, the health district estimates.

Naylor said the dust numbers are likely to improve because the health district is "beefing up the enforcement process" with more enforcement officers -- "dust cops" -- and increased penalties for violations of existing dust-prevention rules.

In 1999 the district levied about $900,000 in penalties, more than double the penalties handed out in 1998.

About half of the 1999 penalty amount was from a handful of big asbestos cases that aren't likely to be duplicated this year because of stricter construction codes, Naylor said. However, he believes penalties for violations of regional dust-control rules are likely to continue to increase.

"We're looking at higher penalties as a deterrent, a further incentive for contractors to meet permit conditions," Naylor said.

And proposed rules to control dust from open areas in the valley, particularly those governing "disturbed vacant land," are likely to make a big difference in how much dust is in the air, he believes.

County and regional agencies are under the gun from the federal government to improve air quality for both carbon monoxide and dust.

The Regional Transportation Commission, county planners and the health district have about a year to get pollution-control plans in place and approved by the EPA, or risk losing federal transportation funding and local control of transportation and development oversight.

The county's success in controlling carbon monoxide is an indicator that pollution-control plans can work, said Russell Roberts, air quality planner for the county.

Pointing out that the rules for carbon monoxide emissions are already in place, although not yet fully approved by the federal agencies, Roberts said that the good results last year show "a synergistic partnership" of local, state and federal agencies has proven successful.

Improvements in carbon monoxide emissions are the result of both local moves, such as requiring cleaner-burning gasoline, state strengthening of smog-check rules for cars, and national requirements throughout the last decade to require cleaner-burning engines, Naylor and Roberts agreed.

The Regional Transportation Commission also has helped the air over the last 16 years by bringing more mass transit and transportation alternatives to people in the valley, Roberts said.

"What this indicates is that we know where carbon monoxide pollution comes from in the valley and how we can get rid of it," Roberts said.

"It shows we are capable of designing rules and enforcing them to meet EPA goals," Naylor agreed.

Dust, on the other hand, will be a tougher problem, Roberts said. Unlike carbon monoxide, which arises from anyone driving a motor vehicle, dust is a problem that largely comes from construction and construction-related activity, he said.

"PM10 is much more prevalent throughout the valley, and it's a much more difficult problem to solve, especially with the time constraints" from the federal and local deadlines, Roberts said.

Health district statistics indicate the scope of the problem.

In 1996 and 1995 there were about 14,000 acres of construction permitted for the valley. By 1999 that number had grown to nearly 20,400 acres.

One other problem plagues the valley, Naylor said: visible smog and haze.

"It is not as obvious that we are making progress with respect to that problem," Naylor said.

For valley policy makers, it is a lesser issue.

The EPA does not have a standard for visible pollution and doesn't correlate the visible smog with health effects. The air can be quite hazy and still be in the moderate to good range, Naylor said.

That visible pollution is one reason why Jane Feldman, conservation group co-chairwoman for the local Sierra Club, is skeptical that the air in the valley is getting cleaner.

"You can look at the statistics, and you can go outside and look at the city, and I still see that yellow-brown haze over everything," she said. "That's the first clue that I get that we still have a long way to go.

"If it doesn't look good to breathe, it probably isn't good to breathe," Feldman said.

Feldman still welcomes the news on carbon monoxide and believes the new proposed rules to control dust will help. But she also believes the region could be doing more to emphasize mass transit and transportation alternatives.

Naylor agrees that the region still has work to do, especially in regard to dust problems. But he argues that the overall picture is better than it has been.

"We think we're making some progress."