There is quite a bit of chatter out there about proposed updates to the EPA’s (Environmental Protection Agency) Clean Air Standards. A LOT OF CHATTER! But what do they updates mean and why does the EPA have standards? In this blog, we will give you some background information that will help make sense of all of this…
What is ozone?
Ozone is a type of oxygen. A regular oxygen molecule that we breathe is made up of 2 atoms of oxygen joined together, O2, or breathable oxygen. Ozone is 3 oxygen atoms joined together, O3, or corrosive oxygen. Ozone or smog forms when nitrogen oxides (a compound of nitrogen and oxygen) react in sunlight with chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are organic molecules that occur in gas form at room temperature. Like any organic compound, VOCs come from man-made and natural sources. So that means they are everywhere, indoor and outdoor. Indoor VOCs are in cleaning supplies, printers, building materials, pesticides, I could go on for a while. Outside they are coming from our car’s emissions, diesel exhaust, leaking out of barges that come through the Port of Houston, and the many chemical plants that drive Houston’s commerce. Are you seeing a pattern here? VOCs are like spiders, there is always one within about 6 feet of you.
If the earth has an ozone layer, why is the ozone closer to the Earth bad? The ozone layer is 10-30 miles above the earth, in the stratosphere. It there to absorb the intense ultraviolet radiation from the sun. That’s right the UV light from the sun that can be cancer-causing. So the stratospheric ozone layer is good. Now ozone that is created closer to the earth, 0-10 miles from the ground, in the troposphere, is not good. It is actually a pollutant and affects everything it comes in contact with like people, animals, vegetation, and even structures. Some ozone is naturally created close to the earth from hydrocarbons that are released by plans and soil. However, the amounts are so small that they are no threat to humans or their environment. Now when you mix this naturally occurring ozone with pollution from cars, refineries, and power plants you have created enough ozone that is harmful. Heat, the sun’s rays, and low winds are ways to increase ozone even more. Time of day, time of year, the geographical location of a city, water formations around an area, and landmasses like mountain ranges are all factors that can increase the amount of ground-level ozone created in an area.
What are National Air Quality Standards?
So now we know what ground-level ozone is and why it is bad. Let’s discover what the regulations are and what they may become. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has guidelines in place for what it considers “attainable levels of ozone,” around the United States. They have set these National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to ensure the safety of the earth and its inhabitants. The NAAQS are outdoor air quality standards that measure the concentration of six main pollutants that create ground-level ozone. These pollutants are carbon monoxide, lead, Nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particle pollution, and sulfur dioxide. The pollutants in the air are measured by parts per million (ppm) or by parts per billion (ppb) per 8 hour period. These analogies I found may help visualize these small percentage measurements. For ppm, imagine one car in bumper-to-bumper traffic from Cleveland to San Francisco. (I feel like traffic is that bad on I-10 some mornings) For ppb, imagine one pinch of salt in 10 tons of tortilla chips.
In 2008, the allowable level of ozone or smog was lowered from 84ppb to our current 75ppb. Areas of the US were ordered to comply with these new regulations or implement extensive plans with the end game to reach compliance with the EPA standards.
The map below shows the 322 counties around the US that are currently in violation of the 2008 NAAQS of >75ppb.
The current 75ppb standard has been accepted, with some kicking and screaming, but accepted. These areas have complied or are working toward compliance, like Houston. These counties around the US who are still not able to comply with the current NAAQS are in an uproar asking the question, “If we have not been able to meet the standards set in 2008, what makes the EPA think that new >65 to 75 ppb standards would be met?”
The map below shows 650 counties around the US that will be in violation of the proposed >60-70ppm standard.
Just a few years ago I remember when the City of Houston won the ‘prestigious’ award of the worst air in the nation. Industry and government worked together to try and target the issues to get the ozone down. Pinpointing the exact culprit of the pollution that creates the ozone is going to be tough. Houston is now the 4th largest city in the nation and a sprawling city. We have people who commute to work 35+ miles on a daily basis (half my office is in that category) and have a weak mass-transit system. Consumers are demanding products full of petrochemicals, which leads to more oil drilling and importing. The nation’s population is always growing. Slapping regulations on the industry are not going to magically fix the problem, we are in this together folks.
Wells that are still using TEG (triethylene glycol) to dehydrate products are adding to ground-level ozone. TEG units are widely sold and environmentally hazardous. CROFT’s Passive Dehydration Systems (PDS) units are designed to replace glycol units and mitigate environmental issues, such as TEG leaks.
