Press Release

CLEAN AIR PARTNERSHIP KICKS OFF ANNUAL CAMPAIGN AMID WARNINGS OF THE POTENTIAL FOR INCREASED NUMBERS OF ORANGE AND RED DAYS THIS SUMMER

EPA’s New, Tighter Limits on Ozone Reinforce the Need for Individuals to Do Their Share for Cleaner Air

ST. LOUIS, MO, May 20, 2008... In March, the Environmental Protection Agency revised the National Ambient Air Quality Standard resulting in tighter limits on ground-level ozone pollution and changes to the color-coded air quality index (AQI) designed to trigger air quality alerts at lower pollution thresholds. As the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership (The Partnership) prepares to kick off the start of air quality forecasting for the 2008 summer season, the revised standards are serving as a catalyst for the organization to step up its efforts to remind area residents and businesses to remain steadfast in their voluntary efforts to reduce emissions in order to avoid a summer plagued by orange and red air quality days.

“The tighter EPA standards mean that we have the potential of having more orange and red days than ever before, particularly if we don’t take steps to keep our air quality at healthy levels,” said Susannah Fuchs, Director of Environmental Health for the American Lung Association of the Central States. “Based on the new ozone standards, we may also experience orange and red days much earlier in the season, so it’s critical for residents and business to begin doing what they can to reduce emissions now, as opposed to waiting until midsummer when ozone levels are typically at their worst.”

With the green movement sweeping the nation, The Partnership is working to engage the public in the clean air effort by demonstrating how “green” efforts such as carpooling, using mass transit, recycling and turning off appliances that aren’t in use can positively affect air quality. The Partnership is hopeful that alternative commuting options will be particularly appealing to individuals seeking to do their share for clean air this year because, aside from playing a key role in reducing emissions, they can also be a great way for commuters to cut their commuting costs during these times of record high gas prices.

“People are carpooling with RideFinders and riding the bus or MetroLink in record numbers as gas prices soar, and that’s great for the environment,” added Fuchs. “But we also want people to know that there are a host of other simple green choices they can make in their daily lives that can go along way toward improving air quality and lung health in the region. Decisions to recycle office paper, newspaper and drink containers or just remembering to flip off the lights when leaving the room all play a key role in clearing the air.”

The Partnership also encourages commuters to help curb emissions by planning their trips using the Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) Gateway Guide website at www.gatewayguide.com or its 511 travel information telephone number. Both services provide real-time travel information designed to help commuters avoid traffic tie-ups, highway construction zones and the related unnecessary idling which results in the release of increased emissions into the air. A new option for this year involves a concept called carsharing which is now available in the St. Louis area through the new WeCar program. Carsharing can be a convenient option for those taking transit, biking or walking to work who need to get to and from mid-day errands or meetings. Carsharing provides commuters with a vehicle when they need it for a low hourly rate which covers gas, physical damage protection and maintenance.

Area residents had the chance to get additional information on alternative commuting options and other ways they can go green and do their share for cleaner air at The Partnership’s fifth-annual Clean Air Festival. Held today from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Kiener Plaza in Downtown St. Louis, the event served as the official kickoff of summer air quality forecasting. Returning exhibitors included the American Lung Association, Amtrak, the Asthma & Allergy Foundation, Citizens for Modern Transit, Madison County Transit, Metro, the Missouri Department of Transportation, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, RideFinders, the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership, St. Louis Regional Clean Cities, SuiteCommute, Trailnet and the U.S. Green Building Council. This year’s event also featured appearances from several new organizations including Earthways Center, Local Harvest Grocery, REI and Toyota Motor Company, and representatives from Enterprise Rent-A-Car who provided information on the WeCar carsharing program.

“When it comes to lung health, poor air quality affects all of us, especially children, older adults and the more than 140,000 area adults suffering with asthma,” noted Fuchs. “That alone is reason enough for each of us to take steps to improve our air quality. But, those health concerns coupled with the EPA’s stricter ozone standards make it more important than ever to get involved in the clean air effort. And, there’s no better time than now to get started.

To learn more, sign up for daily air quality forecasts or make arrangements for your business to become an official member of The Partnership so you can help your employees do their share for cleaner air at home, at work and on the road, log on to www.cleanair-stlouis.com or call (314) 645-5505 ext. 1007.

The St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership was formed in 1995, led by the American Lung Association, St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, East-West Gateway Coordinating Council, Washington University and others, to increase awareness of regional air quality issues and to encourage activities to reduce air pollution emissions.

Did You Know?

Ozone Background:

Ozone is created when heat and sunlight react with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides that are emitted by automobiles, auto body shops, gas stations, organic solvents, power and chemical plants, major manufacturing sites, and dozens of other sources. When all these mix they form a ground-level layer of ozone, also known as smog.
Ozone in the upper atmosphere protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation. Ozone in the lower atmosphere, where we breathe, is a pollutant.
The effects of ozone are most dangerous for people with asthma or other lung diseases, children and the elderly. But even healthy individuals can feel the effects when the air quality is at its worst, particularly when exercising or exerting themselves.

Particulate Matter (PM) Background:

PM, also known as particle pollution, refers to a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air.
Some particles such as dust, dirt, soot or smoke are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye, while other fine particles, such as acids, organic chemicals, metals, soil and dust particles and allergens, are so small they can only be detected by using an electron microscope.
With diameters of 2.5 micrometers and smaller, a size nearly 30 times smaller than a single strand of human hair, fine airborne particles come from a variety of sources including motor vehicles, power plants, wood burning stoves and fireplaces, forest fires and some industrial processes.
Because of their minuscule size, fine particles can travel deep into the lungs, and in some cases, the bloodstream, causing serious health problems.

Health Effects of Ozone and PM

The implications of high ozone or PM include:
Negative health effects, such as shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, headaches, nausea, eye and throat irritation and even decreased lung function
Aggravation of respiratory problems, asthma, allergies and lung diseases
Impairment of the body’s immune system, making people more susceptible to illnesses such as bronchitis and pneumonia
Increased hospital and emergency room visits for respiratory problems
Irregular heartbeat, heart attacks and even premature death in those with heart or lung disease who are exposed to fine particles, which can travel deep into the lungs, and in some cases, the bloodstream
The estimated health cost of air pollution nationwide is in excess of $50 billion each year.
Children are most at risk from exposure to ozone because their lungs are still developing and they breathe more rapidly and inhale more air pollution per pound of body weight than adults. They also often breathe through their mouth, which means the pollution bypasses the body’s first line of defense: the nose.
Nearly 5 million asthma suffers are children and asthma is the leading chronic illness among children.
St. Louis City and County have the highest rate of asthma hospitalizations and emergency room visits in Missouri.
According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, approximately 140,000 adults are living with asthma in the St. Louis region.
Some areas of St. Louis are estimated to have 15-20% of children who suffer from asthma.

Transportation and Ozone Facts

St. Louisans make more than 6 million vehicle trips each day. Of these trips, 5 million are single-occupancy vehicle trips.
People in St. Louis drive over 72 million miles every day, producing over 88 tons of ozone forming Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions daily!
According to the East West Gateway Coordinating Council of Governments, vehicles on the road in the St. Louis region account for approximately 1/3 of air pollution emissions in our region.
In 2003, The Texas Transportation Institute's annual mobility study found that St. Louis-area motorists spent a combined 40 million hours in traffic, wasted 26 million gallons of fuel and doled out $675 million because of traffic congestion.
Just one person riding in a vanpool/carpool instead of driving alone can save the environment nine pounds of harmful emissions every year.
The average commuter can save about $3,500 per year by sharing the ride instead of driving alone to work.
Each year, households that use mass transit can save nearly $1,400 a year in fuel costs.
A single highway lane can accommodate 2,250 people per hour in cars and 9,000 people per hour in buses.
Two MetroLink tracks have the same capacity as 16 lanes of highway.
A full MetroBus at rush hour removes 40 cars from the highway, and a full MetroLink train at rush hour removes 125 cars from the highway.
A variety of programs are in place in the St. Louis area to help make ridesharing a win-win situation for employers and employees. These include:

PERC, a supplemental employee benefit program that lowers the cost of transit to employees and allows businesses a write-off for providing a transit subsidy. It also allows them the opportunity to reduce their payroll taxes by offering transit to their employees on a pre-payroll tax basis. PERC costs nothing for an employer to implement. For details, contact Jeff Siwak at Metro (314) 982-1425.

A Guaranteed Ride Home program is available for registered carpoolers and vanpoolers through RideFinders (www.ridefinders.org), and for transit riders and bicyclists through Citizens for Modern Transit (www.cmt-stl.org).These programs help to ensure that commuters have a guaranteed ride home in the event of an emergency.

Miscellaneous

Operation of a gasoline-powered lawn mower for one hour, from an air pollution perspective, is equal to driving a car for 13 hours.
Currently, there are 52 million residential and commercial mowers (both the ones you push and the ones you ride) and other large lawn equipment that the EPA estimates are in use nationwide. Such lawn equipment is operated about three billion hours a year, the agency says, and a typical push mower emits as much hourly pollution as 11 cars, with a riding mower emitting as much as 34 cars.
Everyday the vapor recovery systems at St. Louis gasoline stations help to prevent more than 11 tons of ozone-forming gasoline vapors from entering the air. These vapors are equal to the weight of 10 sub-compact cars.

2008 Air Quality Forecast At-a-Glance

The official Air Quality Forecasts for the 2008 summer season began today, and will run through mid September. Be sure to tune in everyday to the air quality forecast, and do your part to help clear our air.

What does the daily forecast mean?

The daily air quality forecast is measured by the air quality index (AQI), which converts the ground-level ozone concentration in our air to a number on a scale of 0-200 (from low to high).

The 4-Warn Aircast reports the daily AQI in the following ways:

Green (AQI 0-50)
Air quality is forecasted to be good.
Yellow (AQI 51-100)
Air quality is forecasted to be moderate. Very sensitive individuals and those who suffer from asthma should limit outdoor exertion.
Orange (AQI 101-150)
Air quality is forecasted to be unhealthy for sensitive groups. Children, the elderly, and sensitive individuals should limit outdoor exertion.
Red (AQI 151-200)
Air quality is forecasted to be unhealthy for everyone. Everyone should limit prolonged, outdoor exertion, with sensitive individuals, children and elderly taking special precautions.

Where can I find the daily air quality forecast?

You can get the daily air quality forecast from a variety of sources:

Check the St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership Web site at www.cleanair-stlouis.com.
Call the American Lung Association’s air quality forecast hotline at (314) 645-5505.
Check out your local TV and radio stations, most of which carry the daily forecast.
Check the St. Louis Science Center’s display on the I-64 overpass.
Check the weather page in your local daily newspaper.
In Illinois, call the Memorial Hospital Clean Air Hotline at (618) 257-6265.
Look for the Missouri and Illinois Departments of Transportation Air Quality Alert Signs on local highways.

Stay up to date, so you’ll know what the forecast is, and keep in mind the various other ways you can do your share for cleaner air.

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