State seeks input on dust mitigation plan

The state has released a proposed PM-10 dust mitigation plan for Yuma and other areas that don’t meet federal standards for the pollutant, and is seeking public comment before holding a public hearing in Phoenix next month.

The public comment period extends through Sept. 14, the day of the Phoenix meeting. Copies of the mitigation plan and related documents are available online at azdeq.gov/ node/5220.

PM-10 stands for particulate matter-10 microns or less, and covers all forms of dust and soot smaller than about one-fifth of the width of a human hair.

Sources can include man-made and natural origins, including driving on roads, auto emissions, agricultural activity, construction sites, and controlled and uncontrolled fires.

Dust is transported over short or long distances by wind, and if inhaled can cause short-term and longterm effects, including shortness of breath and wheezing, along with exacerbating existing lung and heart diseases.

Much of the mitigation plan is a compilation of existing regulations at the state and local level, said Brian Parkey, manager of the ADEQ’s Air Quality Improvement Planning Section.

“There’s nothing really new in it. It just has the state regulations that are addressing it,” he said.

Most of southwestern Yuma County has been a federal “nonattainment area” for PM-10 since 1990, and a plan to try to bring it back into compliance submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2006 has never been acted upon.

Under current state regulations, farmers within the nonattainment area face additional permitting costs if they don’t follow a set of “best practices” for reducing dust, applying specifically to Yuma County.

Comments may be submitted by email to Tomczak.Lisa@azdeq.gov, faxed to (602)-771-2299, or mailed to: ADEQ, Attn: Lisa Tomczak, Air Quality Division, Air Quality Improvement Planning Section, 1110 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85007.

All must be postmarked or received by Sept. 14.