Published: June 19, 2009 11:42 pm      

Air quality in Clinton a ‘concern’ to DNR

CLINTON — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ Air Quality Bureau has confirmed what many Clinton residents already knew — the city’s air quality is poor and needs serious examination.

“Clinton is a particular area of concern,” stated Catharine Fitzsimmons, chief of the Iowa Air Quality Bureau at the DNR.

According to Fitzsimmons, the bureau uses several methods to test pollutant concentrations at the ground level in multiple cities, including Clinton. These methods include stack testing, emissions inventory and ambient monitoring.

“(These methods)... are a three-prong approach to assuring that we know what is being emitted from smoke stacks, how much is emitted each year and what the ground level concentrations are of various air pollutants,” Fitzsimmons indicated.

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards provide the bureau with a measure of whether ground-level concentrations may be injurious to public health, Fitzsimmons stated.

The bureau measures particulate matter (PM) in the air to determine pollution levels, according to the NAAQS’s regulations.

According to the bureau, PM includes solid particles and liquid droplets, excluding water droplets, that are found in outdoor air. PM can be emitted directly into the air or it can form from pollutants that react in the atmosphere, indicated the bureau.

“Local industrial emissions, small businesses, motor vehicles and pollutants transported from other sources and other states all contribute to air quality,” Fitzsimmons said.

As small particles generally pose the greatest health risk because they can be inhaled into the respiratory system, particles of less than 2.5 microns in diameter are referred to as PM2.5, according to the bureau.

Fitzsimmons stated that the 24-hour standard for PM2.5 is 35 micrograms. A city’s 24-hour PM2.5 value is assessed on a rolling three-year period with the 98th percentile being averaged and examined.

While Clinton’s air is not currently known to be over the established limit for pollutants, it is nearing the cut-off.

According to the Bureau’s measurements from Clinton’s Chancy Park from 2006-2008, the 24-hour PM2.5 value was 34 micrograms.

For places close to the PM2.5 standard, Fitzsimmons said the Bureau asks people to make voluntary reductions while working with the community to help improve air quality.

Fitzsimmons stated that the Bureau will be working with the Iowa Department of Economic Development to get in contact with citizen, environmental and business groups in Clinton. However, there is currently no timeline for when these meetings will take place.

According to Fitzsimmons, if an area surpasses the 35 microgram limit, it is in a state of non-attainment and must work on improving air quality and reducing pollution levels through specific plans.

“It’s the State’s responsibility to establish controls and bring the area back to attainment,” stated Fitzsimmons.

So far, Clinton is not in violation of these standards and local plant companies like Archer Daniels Midland and Equistar state they actively work to control emissions.

“(ADM) continuously monitors operations, and conducts comprehensive air emissions tests at our facilities, including tests required by our construction and operating permits,” said ADM media relations manager Roman Blahoski in a statement to the Clinton Herald. “Emissions from our Iowa facilities are within state and EPA regulations.”

According to the statement, ADM permanently shut down two carbon furnaces and optimized ethanol-fermenter scrubber use at the Clinton corn processing facility.

“ADM’s new co-generation facility replaced multiple old coal and natural gas boilers,” the statement indicated. “ADM is also planning to shut down six dryers by 2012.”

In the mean time, ADM states that it is continuing to invest in minimizing its environmental impact.

Likewise, Equistar’s Clinton plant is working to control and limit emissions.

“Equistar has conducted testing on a number of emission sources and we use the results of that testing as well as EPA-approved methodologies for calculating and reporting our emissions,” indicated Tom Nunheimer, regional public relations manager for Equistar parent LyondellBasell, in a statement to the Herald.

According to Nunheimer, the Clinton plant was granted a Title V air operating permit from the DNR which establishes emission, operational and production limits.

“The permit also establishes requirements for emission testing, equipment monitoring and repair and record keeping,” Nunheimer stated.

Equistar has also worked to minimize emissions through the upgrading of pumps and through the maintaining of a staff of environmental professionals, Nunheimer indicated.

“Since 2006 we have reduced emissions of criteria pollutants by more than 20 percent, and reduced emissions of hazardous air pollutants by 46 percent,” stated Nunheimer.

However, the question becomes, are reductions like these enough, or will area industries, businesses and residents have to take more drastic measures to adequately improve Clinton’s air quality?

To learn more about the DNR’s Air Quality Bureau, visit www.iowacleanair.com.