Thursday, Sept. 23, 2004 | 11:20 a.m.
An environmental advocacy group released today a report that puts the Las Vegas Valley in some unpleasant company when it comes to air quality.
The Public Interest Research Group, a nationwide network of nonprofit advocacy organizations, ranked Las Vegas 18th in the country for the number of "smog days" prompted by high ozone levels in the air last year. With 10 smog days in 2003, Las Vegas is still far lower than the 103 recorded in the No. 1 Riverside, Calif., area.
The local findings were in step with rankings by state, which put Nevada at 19th in the nation with an average of 11 smog days compared with California's 149 and Arizona's 15.
Air quality monitors record smog days whenever air in a given area exceeds air standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The report noted an increase in air pollution in Nevada, which like 12 other states saw higher ozone levels in 2003 than in 2002.
Ozone, a primary component of smog, forms at the ground level when nitrogen oxide mixes with volatile organic compounds and can be harmful to those suffering from asthma and releated respiratory problems.
On Monday the Environmental Protection Agency put Clark County on a federal list of "nonattainment areas" for ozone, meaning the county must develop and win approval of a plan to control the pollutant.
The report is part of PIRG's annual "Danger in the Air" study, released every year to gauge pollution throughout the country. The report by the nonprofit public interest group used data from the Clark and Washoe county departments of air quality.
Mark Merchant, a spokesman for the EPA's San Francisco office, said the agency has not yet seen PIRG's report but views the group's findings every year to help determine future regulations.
"We're committed to cutting air pollutants across the board," he said. "Non-governmental agencies putting out reports is always helpful to getting good, sound regulations."
Hot, dry temperatures were blamed for a spike in 2002, when Nevada recorded 23 instances of conditions failing to meet health standards, compared with 11 the year before. By 2003 that number had risen to 28, according to the report.
The Sierra Club also proposes expanding the number of air quality monitors in the Las Vegas Valley that would more closely watch smog levels in the area, Mund said.
John Koswan, assistant planning manager for the Clark County Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management, said the region can beat the smog problem. He said the county has had a good track record in responding to federal mandates to clean up carbon monoxide and fine dust in the air.
The county plans to petition the EPA to remove Las Vegas from the list of cities in "nonattainment" of federal health-based air quality standards for carbon monoxide after six years without a violation.
Koswan said the county has three years to write and win approval for the ozone-control plan, and five years to reach full attainment.
"We currently have eight studies under way so we can understand better what the source of the ozone is, and how to solve the problem," he said. "We want the right control measures for the right reasons."
Some measures will likely go into effect well before the EPA sanctions the full plan.
"I expect we will see successes early, much like we saw with carbon monoxide," Koswan said.
Koswan and EPA spokeswoman Lisa Fasano said Las Vegas is barely over the ozone standard, and appears already to be making some progress in cleaning up the air.
Koswan said the region has exceeded federal standards only twice so far this year. The average for the region is about 85 parts-per-billion of ozone in air; the federal standard is 86 parts-per-billion.
Fasano agreed that Las Vegas will have a much easier time than other parts of the country.
"Las Vegas is hovering right at the standard, and Las Vegas continues to grow," she said. "They can build clean air measures into the growth plan."
Ozone levels typically rise from May to October, when temperatures are generally higher and sunlight is more abundant, according to the report.
Clark County, with roughly 1.4 million people, recorded more smog days than other areas with close to four times the size of Southern Nevada's population. The Boston metropolitan area, home to more than 4 million people, recorded four smog days last year. The 17 cities that recorded more smog days than Las Vegas each had populations ranging from 1.5 million to New York's more than 18 million.
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