
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 7, 1993                   TAG: 9307070331
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

ACID RAIN CHEMICALS DOWN AT EASTERN SITES

Concentrations of two chemicals linked to acid rain have fallen significantly in a 12-year span, the government said Tuesday in a study focusing on the eastern United States.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that from 1980 to 1991:

Sulfate levels were down substantially at 26 of 33 measuring sites.

Nitrate levels declined significantly at three stations, and were down slightly at 24 others.

"This should not be interpreted to mean that we have solved the acid rain problem," cautioned Timothy Cohn, a hydrologist at the geological survey and coauthor of the study.

But Cohn said the data suggest a decline in the level of chemical sulfate in rain. Reducing that level was an objective of the Clean Air Act of 1970. - Associated Press

by CNB