THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 16, 1996 TAG: 9605160441
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Every day in Hampton Roads, an estimated 232 tons of nitrogen oxide, a key component of smog, is belched into the sky from cars, trucks, power plants and factories.
To comply with the federal Clean Air Act and avoid expensive penalties, regional leaders must prove that emissions will not increase for 10 years, even while new industries open and more cars pour onto local roadways.
A state environmental expert revealed Wednesday that Hampton Roads probably won't pass this crucial test - unless it gets help from some of the biggest industries, and air polluters, in the region.
Asked by an anxious Hampton Roads Planning District Commission if such help was on the way, state pollution expert Tom Ballou smiled cautiously and said, ``we're working on it.''
Over the next ten years, nitrogen oxide levels are expected to rise by 20 tons a day. To meet federal criteria, Ballou said the region must reduce its projected nitrogen oxide emissions by that amount. To do so, he said, state officials have asked Virginia Power, Amoco Oil Co. and Cogentrix Virginia Leasing Corp., which runs a power plant on the Elizabeth River, to voluntarily tighten control of their emissions.
Virginia Power, which spews the most nitrogen oxide in the region through its two coal-burning plants in Chesapeake and Yorktown, hopes it can cut emissions by 15 tons a day by modifying its boilers, said spokesman Ken Blackwell.
Ballou's prognosis was the latest frustration for local leaders trying to remove Hampton Roads from a national list of smoggy cities. Earlier this year, their efforts were delayed when Gov. George F. Allen failed to appoint a committee to oversee smog-reduction planning, as required by law. Allen has since named the panel, chaired by Norfolk City Councilman Mason C. Andrews.
The stakes are high. Removal from the smog list means an end to worries of mandatory tailpipe inspections and to threats of tougher environmental restrictions on local business and industry.
It also would provide residents peace of mind that their air quality satisfies federal health standards all the time. Excessive smog, or ground ozone, is known to cause respiratory ailments, especially among children and the elderly.
Hampton Roads has never had a severe smog problem; its worst year, 1983, saw seven days of smog levels that exceeded health standards. It had three days of excessive smog in 1993, and none in the past two years. That fact alone, however, is not enough to win removal from the list.
Officials also must submit a plan showing the Environmental Protection Agency how the two components of smog, nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, as well as the noxious gas carbon monoxide, will remain the same or decrease over the next decade.
In discussing a draft plan Wednesday, Ballou said the region should see a reduction in carbon monoxide and VOCs, mostly because of reformulated gasoline, which burns cleaner than untreated fuels. Cleaner engines being developed for trains and farm and construction equipment will help the problem somewhat, Ballou said.
But with a projected increase in cars and traffic in Hampton Roads, reformulated gas is not enough to control nitrogen oxide, Ballou said.
Without voluntary limits at major pollution sources, such as Virginia Power's two plants and Amoco's oil refinery on the Peninsula, meeting federal targets will be difficult, if not impossible, he said.
Dwight Farmer, transportation director at the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, said the agency plans to petition federal regulators for leeway in meeting clean-air goals.
``It's not an unreasonable request,'' he said Wednesday. ``We're so close, it seems only fair that we'd get a little cushion.''
State officials hope to deliver a smog-reduction plan for Hampton Roads to EPA headquarters in Washingon by late July, Ballou said.
KEYWORDS: POLLUTION ENVIRONMENT by CNB