Iowa finished the year 2012 with a total of 63 exceedances of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, with monitors in Muscatine recording 39 of those exceedances, according to figures release by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).
A total of 35 of the 39 exceedances in Muscatine involved high levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, while the remaining four exceedances involved PM 2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter).
Muscatine's Grain Processing Corporation in Muscatine is facing a civil lawsuit by the Iowa Attorney General on air and water pollution and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has filed a notice of violation against the firm.The EPA notice, sent to GPC in March 2012, alleged the corn-processing facility with violating state air pollution laws over a four-year period, 2007 to 2011.
According to the notice, the EPA alleges the facility at 1600 Oregon St., Muscatine, "repeatedly violated limits on air emissions opacity that were set forth in the company's 1995 amended construction permit and 2003 operating permit."
About half (37) exceedances statewide involved SO2 emissions in 2012, while 18 exceedances of ozone standards were recorded in the state. All three violations of lead emissions were reported at a monitor in the Council Bluffs area.
Four ozone exceedances were recorded in Clinton during 2012 and one ozone exceedance was recorded in Davenport at the Jefferson Elementary School monitor.
CLICK HERE to download the full exceedance report for 2012.
