The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced plans to designate Muscatine County in "non-attainment" for sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution, a move Gov. Terry Branstad and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) had tried to sidetrack two years ago.
In his letter to the EPA's regional administrator in June 2011, Branstad recommended Muscatine County be designated as "unclassifiable" under the new SO2 emission standards, a move supported by the IDNR, then headed by Roger Lande, a prominent Muscatine attorney who resigned as IDNR director last year.
In its response to Branstad's letter, EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks last week (2/6) outlined the reasons for the federal non-attainment action, pointing out that even assigning a zero emission level to disputed readings from an air monitor at Musser Park, the result was a sulfur dioxide level of 123 parts per billion (PPB), or 150 percent of the National Ambient Air Quality standard (75 PPB).
Under a non-attainment designation, existing SO2 pollution sources in Muscatine County may be required to reduce their emissions, and new sources that emit sulfur dioxide above certain levels would be required to be built with air pollution controls having the lowest sulfur dioxide emissions technically possible.
The 75PPB standard set by the EPA in June 2010 is designed to protect against high short-term SO2 exposures, which can be particularly harmful to children, the elderly and those individuals with asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and other lung and heart diseases.
The IDNR announced Thursday (2/14) it would be accepting comments from residents and businesses on the non-attainment designation by the EPA. Comments can be sent to Jim McGraw at the IDNR Air Quality Building, 7900 Hickman Road, Suite 1, Windsor Heights, IA 50324, or, by email to Jim.McGraw@dnr.iowa.gov.
EPA plans to finalize the non-attainment designation by June 2013.
Muscatine has recorded the most SO2 exceedances of ambient air quality standards in Iowa for the past three years. In 2012, 39 of the state's 63 air quality exceedances were recorded in Muscatine, and 35 of those 39 air pollution exceedances in Muscatine involved SO2.
The major source of SO2 emissions in Muscatine, Grain Processing Corportation (GPC), is facing a civil lawsuit by the Iowa Attorney General on air and water pollution and the EPA 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.
