EPA Claims Denver's Air is Clean

In a bizarre finding, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that Denver's air is "clean." This is despite the fact that last summer, we experienced 66 exceedances of the federal health standard for ozone, also known as smog.

The EPA's finding is even more bizarre given that the State of Colorado has admitted that, in the face of booming oil and gas development, current regulations are failing to protect families and communities from ozone pollution in Denver. The Air Quality Control Commission is considering a proposal to ratchet down on emissions of smog forming pollution from oil and gas developments, but the current proposal falls short of guaranteeing the clean air we need. And we won't know until December 17th what the Commission will decide.

The state of Colorado is, in a sense, being handed a get out of jail free card by the EPA. Denver has, by all measures, violated federal health standards for ozone. Such violations usually trigger strict federal regulations, potential losses in federal dollars, and a "nonattainment" designation. Rather than designate Denver to be a "nonattainment" area, the EPA gave Colorado a chance to show that it could reduce ozone pollution quicker than normal.

Well, as we've seen, Colorado blew that chance, but its been given a second opportunity to show it can protect clean air. Will Colorado rise to the challenge? We really won't know until December 17th. In the meantime, all we're asking for is clean air. If the Air Quality Control Commission adopts strong rules to reduce smog forming pollution from oil and gas developments in the Denver metro area, then all should be well. However, we stand ready to call foul on the EPA and the state of Colorado if smog reduction rules fall short of protecting the health of our children and communities.