In the battle against the haze and pollution engulfing the West’s national parks, the states have been moving slowly.
None of the Western states met the December 2007 deadline for filing regional haze plans with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Colorado’s partial plan — filed June 13 — estimates that at the present rates of pollution control, it would take more than 116 years to meet the goal of maintaining a clear view on even the haziest days at Rocky Mountain National Park.
To reach a comparable goal at Mesa Verde National Park would take until the year 2275, the plan estimates.
That is only an indication that more work has to be done and that pollution cuts from other states and new technology still must be factored in, said Douglas Lempke, secretary of the Colorado Air Quality Commission.
Colorado’s plan won’t be completed until 2009, Lempke said.
Still, Colorado is ahead of states such as New Mexico and Oregon, which have yet to file even partial plans.
“This is the first time the states have been asked to do regional haze plans and it has been difficult,” said Mary Uhl, chief of the New Mexico’s Air Quality Bureau.
New Mexico, Uhl said, hopes to file its plan by the end of the year.
On June 25, Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, filed a notice of intent to sue the EPA — on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Parks Association — to enforce the deadlines for the haze plans.
“We have to jump-start this process and deal with the pollution,” said Kevin Lynch, an Environmental Defense Fund attorney.
But which steps to take aren’t always clear, air quality officials say.
“All the Western states, including Colorado, are struggling with the pollution issue,” said Chris Shaver, chief of the National Park Service’s air resources division. “It isn’t obvious what the solution is.”
What is clear is that the air quality of the parks is under assault.
Ozone pollution has risen in a “degrading trend” at nine Western national parks — including Mesa Verde and Rocky Mountain National Park, according to a 2006 Park Service report.
On the haziest days, visibility at Rocky Mountain National Park is about 57 miles — half what it should be.
New pollution sources
In 1977, some federal lands — primarily parks and wilderness areas — were designated Class I areas with high-quality air.
Only small additional increments of pollution were to be allowed in these areas.
Colorado has 12 Class I areas — including the Great Sand Dunes Wilderness Area and Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area.
“While programs were developed to cut pollution, a lot of new pollution sources are springing up close to parks,” said Mark Wenzler, director of clean-air programs at the Washington, D.C-based National Parks Association.
Among those are seven proposed coal-burning power plants in Utah, Nevada and New Mexico.
In Colorado, urban growth and oil and gas development are two growing pollution sources, according to the state plan.
Many traditional pollution sources are forecast to decline by 2018, according to that plan.
But oil and gas development and “area sources,” such as home heating, are projected to add 59,000 tons of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic chemicals to the air annually.
“This is a complicated problem,” said Lempke. “Many of these sources are very difficult to model.”
The Colorado plan has identified nine facilities in the state that will need to add pollution-control technology.
They include five Xcel Energy power plants and the Cemex Inc. cement plant in Lyons.
Xcel estimates it will cost $211 million to add equipment to cut emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide, according to company filings.
Planning ahead
The Martin Drake Power Plant in Colorado Springs will also have to add pollution-control technology.
“We are already planning for it,” said David Padgett, Colorado Springs utilities’ manager of environmental services.
At the same time the states are looking to crack down on pollution sources, the Bush administration is proposing rules to make it easier to locate a power plant near a national park.
The rule change would average emissions over a year, instead of measuring them in three-hour and 24-hour periods to capture the worst spikes in pollution .
In 2006, Rocky Mountain National Park had an ozone reading of 76 parts per billion and Mesa Verde had a 74 ppb reading.
In March, the Environmental Protection Agency lowered the health standard for exposure to ozone to 75 parts per billion.
“We are getting close to unhealthy levels in the parks,” Shaver said.
While air quality has been declining in Western national parks, it has been improving at the parks in every other region, according to Park Service data.
Still, the air in those parks does not compare with the West, said the National Park Association’s Wenzler.
“Go to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and climb a peak,” he said. “You should be able to see 110 miles, but in summer it is cut to 22 miles and some days you can’t see a mile. Is that what people in the West want?”
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
