north texas clean air lake dallas

Clean Air Experts, LLC Clean Air Experts has been in business since 2016, with over 6 years of experience! We specialize in all your home improvement cleaning needs, and guarantee you a job well done! Whether it be air ducts, or dryer vents, we are your crew! We strive to exceed the homeowner's expectations each and every time, and get the job done the way you want it. We work in a timely fashion and always pay attention to detail. Air Ducts & Vents - Clean Dryer Vent - Clean Clean Air Ducts and Vents in Lake Dallas, TX Dallas House Cleaning & Maid Services Here's another reason why Texas should secede: We'll avoid getting in trouble for repeatedly violating the Clean Air Act. New data shows that North Texas is continuing its 16-year-streak of failing to be in compliance with the federal law.The Clean Air Act stipulates that ozone pollution doesn't exceed 75 parts-per-billion. But this year's measurements from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality show that much of North Texas has been hovering above even 80 parts-per-billion, which means we're also breaking looser Clean Air Act restrictions from 1997.The grunge-era pollution is looking especially bad in Denton County, where the three-year, eight-hour average of ozone readings was 87 parts-per-billion, tying with Houston as the highest average in the state.
How did Denton County achieve this feat?"It's a mystery that everyone wants to know the answer to, and a lot of us have different theories about it," says Jim Schermbeck, director of the environmental watchdog Downwinders at Risk. Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic: Grambling vs Prairie View A&M University of North Texas Mean Green Football Texas Bronc Riding Finals 2016 All of that ozone pollution has actually been many years in the making (and the subject of a three-part Denton-Record Chronicle series from 2009). how to treat mold in air ductsHere are some of the popular theories:Cement Kilns South of Dallas, in Midlothian, sits the country's largest concentration of cement plants, a major polluter in North Texas. portable air purifier maskAnd areas downwind, like Denton, tend to bear the brunt of the pollution. dual quad air cleaner for sale
(More on that below.)In 2009, the cement industry agreed to a plan calling for stricter pollution controls, according to Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs, but it was the not so environmentally friendly Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that rejected it. Around that same time, the Obama administration had also begun drafting new regulations to limit pollution from the whole cement industry. But as we reported last year, the EPA and Obama flaked on the proposed rules at the last minute.There have been some improvements, notably in June, when one of the big cement firms in Midlothian agreed to close two of its notorious kilns and replace a third with a cleaner model.Idling Trucks When your date pulls up to your parent's house in his Mustang and honks at you for five minutes while leaving the ignition running, he might seem kind of dangerous and cool. When a guy driving a 14,000-pound truck does this, he's just an asshole.Lots of truck traffic bustling through Denton means lots of emissions, 78 percent of which comes from the trucks just idling, according to a recent study by the Council of Governments.
As the Denton Record-Chronicle recently reported, Collin, Dallas, Kaufman and Tarrant counties have all implemented anti-idling measures, barring trucks of 14,000 pounds or more from idling for more than five minutes. But Denton County has yet to adopt such a policy.The Natural Gas Industry This is the one environmental groups like Schermbeck's Downwinders at Risk focus on. There are more than 14,000 gas wells and 15,000 oil wells in the Barnett Shale, according to TCEQ data from January 2012. It's not just fracking itself but the accompanying compressor stations, processing plants and trucks that make the whole industry possible. And while other industries -- even cement -- are required to make an effort to offset their pollution under the Clean Air Act, the natural gas industry has been largely exempt, making it harder for the rest of the state to be in compliance.About a year ago, Eduardo P. Olaguer, the Director of Air Quality Research at the Houston Advanced Research Center, looked at the Barnett Shale and reported in a study that meeting federal ozone standards will be nearly impossible, "unless significant controls are placed on emissions from increased oil and gas exploration and production."
Wind Southeast to northwest winds mean that Denton often gets stuck with the pollution created by the Midlothian region and other parts of Texas. Downwinders at Risk (notice their name) writes that the whole metroplex is effectively "getting squeezed between gas pollution being produced in the middle of its urban areas, and gas pollution blowing in from the south."Testing that found unhealthy air quality around three Luminant coal plants could speed up efforts to reduce pollution in North Texas. The Environmental Protection Agency has tentatively determined that sulfur dioxide in the air around the Big Brown, Martin Lake and Monticello plants violate federal standards. That is expected to start the clock on a multi-year process that environmental groups hope will lead to cleaner air in many parts of the state, including the Dallas area. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality told the EPA there wasn’t enough data from the testing and that the sites should have met federal standards.
Dallas-based Luminant also insisted that those three plants met all air quality standards and criticized the EPA’s methods. The EPA announced a plan in December requiring those plants along with four others in Texas to cut back on sulfur dioxide, which can cause respiratory problems and aggravate heart and respiratory disease. These air quality violations released Wednesday target the same pollutant but are triggered by a different part of the Clean Air Act. Since these new results relate to public health, reductions could come sooner than in the other plan. “The designations are a crucial first step to pushing Luminant and other big polluters across the state to take responsibility for their pollution,” said Chrissy Mann with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “The EPA’s move will mean healthier air for those living near the plants in East Texas and also help reduce small particle pollution that can be dangerous for those who breathe the air downwind in places like Dallas.”
The federal “nonattainment” determination was based on air quality close to those plants, which are about 100 to 150 miles away to the east and south. But pollution from those plants is carried into the Dallas area and contributes to haze and health problems. Dr. Robert Haley, an epidemiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, previously said cleaning up those coal plants would prevent more than 70 premature deaths annually in North Texas. In a written statement, Luminant questioned the federal government’s latest testing. “The proposed SO2 designations by the EPA are based on computer modeling funded by environmental groups,” spokesman Brad Watson said. “We firmly believe these models do not accurately predict actual emissions measurements and that these designations should be determined by real-world emissions data from air quality monitors. We are in the process of evaluating the EPA’s technical support documents.” State environmental regulators had similar concerns.
“The TCEQ’s position is that designations should be based on monitoring – not modeling,” said agency spokeswoman Andrea Morrow. “There are no areas in Texas monitoring an exceedance of the [standards]. Our assessment is different from EPA’s because our assessment was based on monitoring and EPA’s was based on modeling supplied by a third party.” Despite the skepticism, the latest test results seem to put greater pressure on Luminant’s old coal plants, which have been threatened for years from regulators, environmental groups and the energy market. Luminant’s parent, Energy Future Holdings, is reorganizing in bankruptcy court. Also, the coal plants are trying to compete against newer facilities running on plentiful and cheaper natural gas. And tougher air quality rules will cost the coal plants, which have three to five years to upgrade. A Luminant spokesman estimated that the 2015 rules would cost about $2 billion but not significantly approve the haze problems.
Last year’s EPA crackdown on sulfur dioxide was based on Clean Air Act rules intended to reduce haze in national parks and wilderness areas. The federal government is requiring seven of the state’s old coal plans to make expensive upgrades, such as scrubbers in the smokestacks. The EPA created its plan after partially rejecting the state’s plan to reduce haze as falling short. Any changes expected to emerge from these “nonattainment” designations are based on air quality in the areas immediately around coal plants in Freestone, Rusk and Titus counties. Mann said the tests show that “it is not safe to breathe the air around those facilities.” The Sierra Club has unsuccessfully sued Luminant over emissions at some of its plants. The timeline for changes based on these new tests is still hazy. The public will have a 30-day comment period, and TCEQ will have 60 days. The EPA is scheduled to announce its final designation on July 2. Then, the TCEQ will have 18 months to come up with a state plan to reduce emissions.