Unhealthy-air days ranking puts N.C. 7th

By BRUCE HENDERSON

January 31, 2001

North Carolina recorded the nation's seventh-highest number of unhealthy-air days last year, two environmental groups said Tuesday.

Ozone levels exceeded the N.C. ozone standard somewhere in the state on 35 days in 2000, said the N.C. Public Interest Research Group and Clean Air Network. South Carolina had 25 such days, 10th-highest in the country.

A June 1 ozone reading taken near Charlotte's Garinger High School was the highest in the country that day; for the year, it ranked 17th highest. Mecklenburg County had 20 bad-air days for 2000.

"Smog is causing a public health crisis, triggering 240,000 asthma attacks across the state," said N.C. PIRG advocate Elizabeth Ouzts. "It's time to take aggressive action to protect public health and clear the air."

California had the most smoggy days, with 126. Other states in the top 10: Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Arizona.

The groups' comparison of states is based on an ozone standard that has been proposed by the federal government but is being challenged in court.

North Carolina adopted that standard, which is based on each day's highest eight hours of ozone levels. The federal government has returned to a less-stringent standard as it waits for the Supreme Court to rule on the eight-hour standard.

North Carolina ranked third-highest in the country for the total number of readings exceeding that standard, the two groups said, with 239. South Carolina exceeded the standard 77 times, 13th highest.

Those rankings depend, however, on how many air-pollution monitors the states maintain. North Carolina has 47 monitors, South Carolina 24.

www.charlotte.com

Unhealthy-air days ranking puts N.C. 7th

By BRUCE HENDERSON

January 31, 2001

North Carolina recorded the nation's seventh-highest number of unhealthy-air days last year, two environmental groups said Tuesday.

Ozone levels exceeded the N.C. ozone standard somewhere in the state on 35 days in 2000, said the N.C. Public Interest Research Group and Clean Air Network. South Carolina had 25 such days, 10th-highest in the country.

A June 1 ozone reading taken near Charlotte's Garinger High School was the highest in the country that day; for the year, it ranked 17th highest. Mecklenburg County had 20 bad-air days for 2000.

"Smog is causing a public health crisis, triggering 240,000 asthma attacks across the state," said N.C. PIRG advocate Elizabeth Ouzts. "It's time to take aggressive action to protect public health and clear the air."

California had the most smoggy days, with 126. Other states in the top 10: Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Arizona.

The groups' comparison of states is based on an ozone standard that has been proposed by the federal government but is being challenged in court.

North Carolina adopted that standard, which is based on each day's highest eight hours of ozone levels. The federal government has returned to a less-stringent standard as it waits for the Supreme Court to rule on the eight-hour standard.

North Carolina ranked third-highest in the country for the total number of readings exceeding that standard, the two groups said, with 239. South Carolina exceeded the standard 77 times, 13th highest.

Those rankings depend, however, on how many air-pollution monitors the states maintain. North Carolina has 47 monitors, South Carolina 24.