Inching Toward Violating Health Standards

Tonight, ozone levels in the Denver metro area soared. They peaked at levels not seen since 2003.

According to online monitoring data, 8-hour ozone levels in the air reached 98 parts per billion at Rocky Flats, 90 in Golden, 88 in Fort Collins and in Boulder, 85 in southwest Lakewood, 84 in Arvada, 83 in Highlands Ranch, and 81 in Denver and at Chatfield. Current health standards for ozone in our air are set at 80 parts per billion, so Denver's air was pretty unhealthy tonight.

The high ozone levels at Rocky Flats now put the Denver metro area only 1 part per billion shy of a violation of federal health standards. A violation occurs when the three-year average of the fourth highest maximum ozone reading reaches 85 or higher. If we were playing horseshoes, this would be like missing a ringer by a millimeter.

And what's significant about these ozone levels being the highest since 2003? Well, back in 2003, the state decided to adopt stronger clean air rules to help reduce ozone in the Denver metro area. The rules called for cleaner gasoline and reductions in ozone forming pollution from oil and gas developments. If present ozone trends are any indication, these rules don't seem to be cutting it in terms of actually keeping us safe from air pollution.

Sadly, this may not be much of a surprise. One of the most significant sources of ozone pollution in the Denver metro area comes from coal burning power plants. Unfortunately, the state has not yet required any of these power plants to cut their pollution to keep us safe from ozone.

Clearly that needs to change. Coal burning power plants need to cut their ozone forming pollution to keep the Denver metro area safe. We've crafted a proposal to do just that, and we think it's time to get in gear to get it adopted. Check it out, www.ourcleanair.org/no_smog.