Question:
I
see12 ozone days for last year 2006. What days were those? I
would assume diesel creates ozone too is this true?
Answer:
Ozone Alert! Days, since the
program began - are listed in the "Ozone Alert Data" section
of the website (or by clicking
http://www.ozonealert.com/oalerts03.htm)
And, YES, Yes, emissions
from diesel vehicles are culprits in the ozone problem as
well. Diesel emits some-though-less hydrocarbon (VOC)
emissions than conventional gas; However, NOx emissions
from diesel vehicles is significantly greater than
conventional
Question:
I really liked the page http://www.ozonealert.com/meter.htm
but it is no longer active, showing a date from February. Will
this be updated?
Answer:
Yes! Please simply delete your previous bookmark and re-enter
www.ozonealert.com/meter1.aspx. During the 'off'
season, our website underwent extensive programming updates
to all pages with realtime data. The page looks the
same, but the name of the page needs to be changed from
**/meter.htm to **/meter1.aspx. Change your bookmark
and delete the old page name.
QUESTION:
I am a City of Tulsa Employee and work in an environmentally
friendly workplace. We receive copies of City News, which
is the City's monthly publication. Why is it that I open
it and routinely see photos of lawnmower races that are
held at functions meant to promote recycling and environmental
awareness? Doesn't the Mayor realize that lawnmowers , especially
highly souped up ones meant for racing, crank out an amazing
amount of harmful ozone emissions? What kind of message
is the City sending its employees and citizens? As a Tulsa
resident that goes out of my way to have an electric mower
and weedeater, and recycle, I'm dumbfounded. Can't these
silly "races" be banned?
ANSWER: from Michael Patton, Executive Director, Metropolitan
Environmental Trust.
You make some good points and I have echoed your sentiments
to officials before.
Let me help discuss this... bear with me, like most things,
the answer is not simple.
About 17% of all trash thrown away from a home each year
is grass clippings... which means that 1 out of 6 trash
trucks and miles driven could be off the road if people
were not allowed to throw away grass clippings. Texas, Missouri,
and Arkansas as well as more than half the states in the
Union have banned the disposal of grass clippings, but Oklahoma
has not.
The City of Tulsa was trying to do whatever it can to promote
voluntary management of yard waste by having an event for
the public focusing on mulching mowers and compost bins.
You have a good point about mowers being more harmful to
air quality than cars. They lack emission controls and I
have heard statistics that say one hour of mowing is equivalent
to nearly 10 hours of driving, based on the type and conditions
of both.
To defend the city, I think that their intentions are correct.
If everyone stopped throwing away clippings, it would outweigh
the harm of emissions from the mowers. They also scheduled
the event in the spring, at a time when people get into
the habit of mowing and before the ozone season.
On the other hand, I agree it was a stupid idea to race
mowers to teach people how to mow better. The racing mowers
just killed grass that day by driving around in a circle
over and over and the crowd was more interested in the Nascar
like appeal than the "grass clippings aren't trash"
message that was intended.
I don't think the City is considering doing it again.
QUESTION:
I remember hearing about a #number for reporting vehicles
that were exhausting a lot of smoke.
Does the program still exist? Please let me know and provide
me the telephone # if it does.
ANSWER: The program you are referring to is the Smoking
Vehicle Hotline. The number WAS 744-SMOG, but
unfortunately the program no longer exists.
QUESTION:
Why are the emission numbers so close to the threshold in
Tulsa and how do larger cities contain this issue. ie. Chicago,
K.City, LA, New York City.
ANSWER: Most metropolitan areas have Ozone problems during
the warmer months of the year. Many are far worse than Tulsa's
problem. Those that are in non-attainment, must file a plan
with the EPA on how they will solve the problem. Plans vary
with the local conditions. OzoneAlert.Com's links page lists
several EPA sites where you can see how the problem is being
handled in other areas.
QUESTION:
Is Tulsa a primary area for ozone depletion during the summertime?
I am curious if this is a seasonal issue.
ANSWER: Ozone is sometimes a confusing subject because tit
can be both good and bad. The Good Ozone is
in the upper atmosphere and protects us from the sun's ultra
violet rays. Depletion of the Good Ozone is a concern. Bad
Ozone is ground level Ozone. It is a health hazard. Ground
level Ozone is a problem in Tulsa primarily in the months
of May through September. During that time, the weather
conditions combine with hydrocarbon emissions to create
ground level Ozone.
QUESTION:
Just what are the geographical limits for ozone alerts?
ANSWER: Ozone Alerts here in the Tulsa Area refer to the
Tulsa Metro Area -- Transportation Management Area specifically.
It's all of Tulsa County plus portions of the surrounding
counties. Something like drawing a circle around the City
of Tulsa limits. Alerts are also called throughout the
rest of the country specific to geographical and meteorological
conditions in each unique Air Quality Management area.
As the Tulsa area is in attainment for ozone, our 'air
quality management area' is not yet formally defined by
EPA but will at least include the TMA as identified above.
If/when the designation for non-attainment process occurs,
the formally defined area could include more than the
TMA - even the entire Tulsa Statistical Area, which is
all 7 of our surrounding counties, including Tulsa County
QUESTION:
Are Ozone generators harmful?
ANSWER: Here is what the American Lung Assn. has to say
about Ozone Generators: You be the judge.
These air cleaners utilize a chemical modification process
instead of mechanical or electronic filters to "clean"
the air. Ozone (referred to as trivalent oxygen or saturated
oxygen by some manufacturers) has been used in water purification
since 1893 (Wickramanayake, 1991). When used in water
solutions such as cooling towers, ozone generators have
demonstrated good control of reactive contaminants without
creating negative side effects. Introducing ozone into
the air stream can have beneficial effects under controlled
conditions where humans are not exposed. For example,
high concentrations of ozone are used to retard microbial
growth in meat storage, and to control and counteract
microbial growth and odors from fire and flood damaged
buildings. However, ozone is of concern when considering
spaces for human occupancy. The high concentration levels
required for contaminant control are in conflict with
potential health effects as established by authorities
including the National Institute of Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) (Boeniger, 1995), the US EPA (1995),
and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
QUESTION:
Can you explain how running your A/C, in your car, adds
to the ozone problem? I thought they fixed that years
ago.
ANSWER: NOx emissions are one of the two ground-level
pollutants which combine in sunlight to make ozone. Recent
studies have suggested that the use of air conditioners
in autos can significantly increase tailpipe NOx emissions.
Running a car's A/C increases the combustion temperature
- due to the additional load of the AC's operation. This
results in increased engine-out NOx emissions (due to
thermal N2 and O2 reaction formation). Newer cars are
certainly cleaner than in previous years - and catalysts
are getting better and better. But in general, running
a car's AC still results in a higher NOx tailpipe emission.
QUESTION:
I have been watching this site very closely during Ozone
Alert Days. I am confused...Why does TV use the number
100 for an exceeding count and this site uses .085?
ANSWER: OzoneAlert.Com lists the actual Ozone concentration
readings from the monitoring sites which are the numbers
used by the EPA to determine if there is a violation of
the Clean Air Act. The TV stations have chosen to use
the Air Quality Index, which is a mathematical formula.
An 8 hr. average Ozone Concentration reading of ".085
ppm" is equal to an Air Quality Index reading of "100"
