English201084 AdrianLuna,BrianDeLong,MatthewMartinez April25,2013 Report

FormanyyearsUtahnshavebeenunawareofanissuethathasandisstilllurking aroundthemallthetime.Airpollutionhasbeenanissuethatalllivingthingshavealways lived.Datingbackinhistorysourcesofairpollutantscamefromvolcanoes,winderosion andcomposition.Nowadaysairpollutionhasbeenincreasedsignificantlyduetohuman activity.Transportationseemstobeamajorsourceofairpollutantsinmodernsociety. Manypeopleusedifferentmethodsoftransportation.Themostcommonuseof transportationareautomobiles.However,theyarenottheonlysourceofairpollution. Factoriesandrefineriesplayabigroleontheissue. Kennecottfield,acopperminingindustry,hasbeenamajorcontributortothebad qualityofairthevalleyisknownfor.Theyhaveabusedthecleanairactandtheutah citizenshavecometoaconsensustosuekennecottforviolatingtheact.Itisestimated theyowearound$68millioninviolations.Kennecottisoneofthemainsourcesofparticle pollution,fortheyreleaseharmfulsubstancescomingfromfossilfuels.Thefossilfuels comefromoperatingvehiclesandequipmentaswellastheypowerplantstheyuse(Judy
Fahys).Manypeoplearesuggestingtheuseofnuclearpowerplantshereinutah.Forthey

notonlyproducethreetimesmoreenergythanoilandgasbutalsoproducelesswaste. Theyonlyproduceaboutonecubicmeterofwasteayear.Thisisthentransportedand storedininvastemptyfieldliketheSkullvalleyinUtah.Ifthewasatchfrontcouldswitchto

nuclearenergyitwouldlessentheamountofairpollutionthatutahnshavetobreatheevery dayfromoilandgasrefineries.Utahdoesnothaveasinglenuclearpowerplant,ifthere wereapowerplantitcouldcreatealotprofittohelpnotonlyairpollutionbuttoinveston otherenvironmentalissues.Themainproblemwiththisisthatpeopletendtogetthewrong assumptionswhichcanonlybefromlackofnuclearknowledge.Theincidentinchernobyl hasmadepeopleveryspectacleaboutitandprefernotrecommendingit.Thepositive sideofthisisthatitproducescleanerenergyandisalotmoreaffordable(Morgan).

Itsisestimatedthat50%ofairpollutantsseemtoderivefromthemillionsof vehiclesonthehighways(Adams).Theyreleasehydrocarbonsthatareduetothe evaporationoffossilfuels.Nitrogenoxidesareproducedfromhighheatduringtheprocess ofburningfuel.Lastbutnotleastisthecarbonmonoxide,whichallutahnsshouldbeaware of.Carbonmonoxideismadefromtheincompleteburningoffuels.Thesecompositions areveryharmfulandcancauseseverehealthissues.Modernautomobilestendtopollute theairalotlessthatpreviousoldmodels.Theyhavebeenregulatedtoreducetheamount ofharmfulemissions.Theproductionofgreencarhasbeenhigherthaneverbefore,the governmentsupportsitandrecommendstheiruseinthefuture.Thissoundslikean amazingalternative,however,peoplehaveopposingviewsonthissuggestion.They believeitistooexpensiveandwillnotcontributeinimprovingairquality.Onthehandithas beenprovennotonlytoreduceemissionsbutsavegallonsofgasoline(Voelcker).Itwould beawiseinvestmentandhelpimprovethequalityofairintheWasatchfront. Thedebateonusingpublictransportationhashottopicinutahforquitesometime.

Usingpublictransportationonverypolluteddayssoundslikeagoodideainorderto preventserioushealtheffects.Busses,trainsandtaxisarealwaysgoingtobeinuse.So whynottakethem?Peoplefindthesemethodsinconvenientandcostly.Itisrecommended thatpeoplewholivewithincitylimitsshouldtakepublictransportationfortheysavean abundantamountofmoneyandtransportationwillcomeeverytenminutesifridingthebus orthetrain. Amajorfactorthatplaysabigroleintherealmofairpollutionspecificallyinthe wasatchfrontisinversion.Inversionistheprocessinwhichairgetstrappedinabowl shapedformifmountainareprovided.Thisisduetothecoolairthatgetstrapped underneaththewarmairabove.Withthisbeingthecasetheairatthebottomofthevalley gettrappedanddoesnotmixorescapeforcertainperiodoftime.Conditionsthatfavor thissortofdevelopmentarecalmwinds,clearskiesandlongnights.Calmpreventstheair fromthebottomtomixwiththetop.Thelongnightsallowforthecoolingtotakeplace.With thisbeingsaid,airpollutioninthewasatchfrontisatitsworstduringthewintermonths.The endresultoftheseconditionstendstobeatermutahnsaremostfamiliarwithwhichis smog.Itisclearlyvisibleduringdaytimehoursandgetsabrownandyellowcoloration. ThereforetheWasatchFrontresidentshavetosufferbreathinginwhatweputout. ManyfactorsareinvolvedtomakeairpollutionanissuewithintheWasatchfront. DuetoUtahnsgeographicallocation,theysuffermoreandaremoreexposedtodeadlyair pollution.AspeoplemayalreadyknowmostoftheWasatchfrontliesinavalley.Sowhat haveUtahnsdoneabouttheissue?Smallcommunitiesarehelpingraiseawarenessofthe issuetothepublic.Thesourcesfromwhichtheissueseemtoderivefromhavebeen

lookedatandmethodshavebeenconsidered.Utahnsshoulddosomethingeffectiveabout anissuethatsaffectingthemandforfuturegenerationstocome. Airpollutionisaheatedsubject,becausethemajorityofsevereffectsare accumulatedoveralongperiodoftime,manypeopledon'taccepttherelevanceof pollutantpreventativemeasuresalsothemanufacturersthatareaffectedareprofitdriven andanyexpendituresareseenasburdensome,thiscausessomeresistancetothe expensesincurredinordertomeetthestandardsimposedbyregulatoryauthoritieslikethe EPAandtheDEQ.OneoftheprimarypurposesoftheEPAistocollectdataaboutour impactontheenvironmentandhowourownlivingconditionsareaffectedbythis.Utahis oneoftheworststatesforairqualitypercapita.TheAmericanLungassociationrecently assessedthequalityoftheairinutahandgaveSaltLake,Weber,andCacheanFciting themasthe6thand10thworstareasRespectively,inthecountry.(JudyFahys)Accordingto theNationalAmbientAirQualityStandards,NAAQS,setbytheEPAthesecounties consistentlyfailinthecategoriesofgroundlevelozone,particulatematter(BothPM10,and PM2.5)carbonmonoxide,andsulfurdioxide,orfouroutofthe6criteriaPollutants.In recentyearsthesecountieswerereassessedandfoundtomakethestandardsforground levelozone,andcarbonmonoxide.Theremainingpollutantsarecausinghealthissuesin Utahcitizens.InarecentreportfromtheUtahPhysiciansForaHealthyEnvironmentthey madethecomparisontosmokingseveralcigarettesaday,whenUtahhasaspikeinair qualityduetoaninversion.(JoeBauman)Thisairpollutioncauseallkindsofhealth conditions,suchasskincancer,heartandlungdisease,damagetothehumanimmune system,eyedamage,throatirritationandchronicproblemssuchasasthmaandbronchitis.

Theseeffectscanbequiteseriousasasthmacurrentlyhasnocure.Whenasthmastrikes theairwaysthelungsbecomesconstrictedandswollenfillingwithmucus.Itmakesyour chesthurtandmakesItincreasinglyhardtobreatheforcingyoustartcoughing.Ifnot attendedtoasthmaattackscanbedeadlyandcurrentlykillfivethousandpeopleeveryyear intheU.S.alone. Seriousairpollutionisalsoshowntoshortensthelifespanofpeoplelivinginthe WasatchFrontwheretheaverageisabout2yearsshorterthanthenationalaverage.Air pollutionhasbeenshowntoresultinmoredeathsthanAIDSandmalaria,globallythetotal reachesmorethan6millionpeopleannually(Routers).Somepeoplearemoresensitiveto pollutionthanareothers,Peoplewhoalreadyhavehealthproblemsaremostaffectedbyair pollution.Youngchildrenandtheelderlyoranyonethathaveasthmaandotherpreexisting lungconditionshavetolimitthemselvesoutside.Forexamplepeoplewithasthmawho spendaanysubstantialtimeoutsidestarttocoughandwheeze,theseproblemsare exacerbatedoninversiondays,wheretheyarevirtuallyrestrictedfromgoingoutside. Peoplewhoalreadysufferfromillnessescangetevensickerbecauseofthepollutionof theWasatchFrontduringwintermonthswheninversionsarethemostprevalent. Studiesshowthatchildrenwhogrowupinhighpollutionareasdonotfullydevelop theirpotentiallungfunction.Childrenaremoreactivethanadultssowhentheyplayoutside theyarebreathingmorepollutioninwhichcancausethemtogetsick.Athletesandpeople wholovetheoutdoorsarealsoatriskwhenthey'reoutdoorsbecausetheyareeither runningorexercisinganitmakesthembreathemore.

WorksCited JoeBaumon,IsAirPollutionAsHarmfulAsSmoking?,DeseretNews,March6th,2008

JudyFahys,AirPollutioninUtahGetsan'F'GradefromAmericanLungAssociation, TheSaltLakeTribuneApril24th,20013

Routers,MoreAirPollutionDeathsPerYearThanFromAIDS,Malaria:UN,Huffington Post,April9th2013

Adams,Andrew,RandallJeppesen,MaryRichards,andJohnDaley."AreFathersGetting ShortEndoftheStickinUtahCustodyCases?"LocalNews.KSLNews,11Jan.2010. Web.30Apr.2013.

K,Morgan."NuclearEnergyforUtahCreatingaFuture."UtahAirQualityinRegardstoNuclear Energy.NuclearEnergyForUtah,4Feb.2013.Web.30Apr.2013.

Voelcker,John."ObamaAdministrationToAdd10,000HybridsToGovernmentFleet."GreenCar Reports.Greencarreports,25Apr.2013.Web.30Apr.2013.