In 2009, Tarrant County had an 8-hour average ozone reading of 86 ppb at two locations, one in far north Fort Worth near Keller and another at Eagle Mountain Lake. Both were the highest readings in the state and well above the 2008 revised standard of 75 ppb and much higher than the proposed rule changes.
Tougher EPA ozone standards may make it tough for DFW area to comply
By BILL HANNA
Currently the ozone standard set by EPA is 75 ppb but, by the end of the year, the new standard will be somewhere between 60 ppb and 70 ppb.
According to an EDF analysis, Wise County has the highest level of VOCs in North Texas. VOCs cause ozone.
Jim Schermbeck, head of the environmental group Downwinders at Risk, questioned TCEQ staff about whether any ozone monitoring devices would be placed in Wise County since the highest concentrations of ozone in the Metroplex have consistently been found in northwest Tarrant County, near the Wise County line.
TCEQ says they have no plan to put monitors in Wise County but ultimately TCEQ is not the decider, EPA is. Conversations with EPA officials lead me to believe that Wise County will get a monitor.
Following the meeting, Schermbeck also predicted Wise County will eventually be brought into the nine North Texas counties that are part of the “non-attainment area.”
What do you think? Does Wise County need a monitor?
EPA vs TCEQ
There’s more to the story. Read about it HERE.
Counties in the DFW non-attainment:
- Tarrant
- Dallas
- Denton
- Johnson
- Hood
- Parker
- Collin
- Kaufman
- Rockwall
From EDF’s analysis:
- The oil and gas industry releases about 42 tons of ozone forming VOC emissions per day in Wise County.
- The oil and gas industry releases about 37 tons of ozone forming VOC emissions per day in Denton County.
- 100 tons of VOC emissions are produced daily from all of the cars and trucks in the nine-county DFW ozone non-attainment area.
79 tons per day of ozone forming VOCs in 2 counties from Barnett Shale drilling
Drillers should DRILL RIGHT TEXAS: Best oil & gas development practices for Texas or don’t drill at all.
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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I am not a proponent of the glib TCEQ policy of if a substance isn't visible or foul smelling then there is no problem. Nor do I believe the thresholds being set by the EPA are unreasonable. It is a laugh to hear the state cry foul about that when they are proposing downgrading the standards for water quality in Texas for rivers streams etc.
Our Texas babies are getting asthma. While we may blame a sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise for some of the problems plaguing our children, how can they play outside if the "fresh air" isn't fresh? That soccer field may be green but who wants to play on it if your child gets sick breathing in lungfuls of dirty air. It is a terrible cycle that can be stopped with compliance and not that much trouble. The corporations will still make money, they always do; but I am willing to pay more for gas, oil, energy in order to breathe clean air.
I can't breath right now.
Ah, the S-T made a mistake (I know!) Hood County is not currently in the DFW non-attainment area, but Ellis County is.
It is amazing to me what a bit of mailbox money will cause the residents of Wise County to overlook.
The video you show from the past shows exactly what it looks like today driving from Decatur to Denton, but worse. Is mailbox money enough to help you sleep at night when your children and your children's friends are developing asthma and having early morning nosebleeds?
I hope when the day of reckoning comes it was worth the money.
What are the sacrifices we make for our dependence on foreign oil? Are they equal to the sacrifice of our children? Who will the lambs be? I believe Texas has decided any lamb will do. Unfortunately it is the youngest lambs they seek.
Take a drive into Wise County, one of the most unpopulated counties in North Texas. We NEED a permanent monitor and we NEED EPA help NOW. It is non-attainment area whether the EPA recognizes it or not.
Children suffer from asthma from being allergic to cedar, dust, animals, etc.. Where is your facts on how many children are suffering from early morning nose bleeds? Nose bleeds are common in dryer parts of the country.
Again, it is more hysteria to get big government in control of our every day lives. If the air was so bad, you wouldn't live here.
YOU prove YOUR industry is not the cause of nose bleeds (likely from the formaldehyde). YOU prove you don't pollute our water and air. The burden should be on industry NOT on the common man.
Barnett Shale asthma rates staggering
Where are your facts to support this statement?
If the air was so bad, you wouldn't live here.
If someone would buy my place, I'd gladly move. It's been for sale for 3 years now. No one wants to buy anything in the Barnett Shale now so people can't sell their homes.
I do not agree with the poster who states it is "hysteria to get big government in control of our everyday lives." It is reasonable to expect both our state and federal elected officials to enforce the regulatory requirements for industries, whether it is ensuring that your food is not adulturated, your medicine is not poisoned, your drinking water is safe and so on. Corporations have no moral obligation to provide these things. After all, if industry is unregulated and you were to get sick or worse, thanks to former governor Bush and tort reform you have limitations to pursuing legal actions and the company can essentially wait you out.
Corporations exist to make a profit. Period. While a company may have leaders who have a sense of duty to society or their customers at large; as an entity they should not be the fox guarding the henhouse so to speak.
I do not consider myself a 'socialist,' I actually prefer to avoid labeling people in general, but why is it considered socialism to ask that the health and well being of humans be ignored so that corporate welfare *cough Texas Enterprise Fund cough* can continue unabated?