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State's air quality in summer 2009 best in 3 decades
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Published: October 6, 2009
RALEIGH
North Carolina residents breathed a little easier this summer.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Tuesday that the state's air quality was the best in three decades as environmental laws, balmy weather and the recession combined to make the air cleaner.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Monday that North Carolina had six "code orange" days, the lowest number since some local governments began tracking air quality in the early 1970s. Code orange means ground-level ozone levels exceeded federal clean air standards.
The state had 36 days of unhealthy ozone levels last year and 66 in 2007.
On "code orange" days, state officials urge children, the elderly and people with asthma to avoid strenuous outdoor activity.
The main reason for the decline in ozone levels is lower emissions from coal-fired power plants and automobiles, DENR said. The state's Clean Smokestacks Act of 2002 required the state's 14 coal-burning plants to cut ozone-forming emissions by three-fourths by 2012. Coal is used to generate more than half the state's electricity.
DENR spokesman Tom Mather said the recession likely contributed to reduced ozone levels this year as factories and other industries laid off workers, cut shifts or shut down. The state's two major power companies reported dramatic declines in industrial energy sales.
Progress Energy reported a 15.5 percent reduction in electricity sales to industrial customers this year, while Duke Energy saw an 18.6 percent decline.
In addition, the state's motor vehicle emissions testing program expanded from nine urban counties to 48 counties in 2006. The program checks whether catalytic converters and other equipment are working properly.
The estimated emissions from cars and trucks has declined by 38 percent since 2002, DENR said.
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