Rome air quality improves, metro Atlanta gets worse
The Rome and Summerville area scored among the cleanest in the U.S. for air quality, according to a new report by the American Lung Association.
The ranking is a marked change from a decade ago, when Floyd County was designated as a nonattainment zone for the air pollutant PM 2.5 — small particulate matter, or soot, from combustion activities.
But regulations on industry emissions and temporary restrictions on roadbuilding that would increase vehicle traffic appear to have made a difference.
While other areas around the state worsened, the report released last week shows Rome and Valdosta as the cleanest in Georgia in terms of particle pollution.
The Rome and Summerville area also came out on top when measuring ozone, the main factor in smog, along with Brunswick; Savannah/Hinesville/ Statesboro; and Bainbridge.
Ozone and particle pollution are the most widespread air pollutants and among the most dangerous.
A variant of oxygen, ozone exists naturally in the atmosphere miles above Earth, and plays an important protective role. But at ground level — where it is created by the reaction of sunlight on emissions from vehicles and other sources — ozone is unhealthy for living things.
Ground-level ozone is especially harmful to children, older adults, people with respiratory illnesses, and those who work outdoors.
Particle pollution is made of soot or tiny particles that come from coal-fired power plants, diesel emissions, wildfires and wood-burning devices. Exposure to particles can increase the risk of hospitalization for asthma, damage to the lungs, lung cancer and premature death.
In the 2018 State of the Air report, several metro Atlanta counties received F grades for ozone: DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale. Georgia cities and
metro areas ranking in the top 70 in the nation for short-term particle pollution, with more unhealthy air days, included Macon/Warner Robins (56th); Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Athens/Clarke County (65th); and Columbus (68th), the Lung Association said.
The decline in metro Atlanta air quality was not dramatic, said June Deen, senior vice president of the American Lung Association in Georgia. “If you compare it to what it was like back in 2000, we’ve seen vast improvement,“Deen said Wednesday. “We’ve done a lot of things to improve the air,” she added, citing the Clean Air Act.
Nationally, the report found that ozone pollution worsened compared to the last report. With record-setting heat in 2016, high ozone days increased. Particle pollution levels, though, continued to drop, especially year-round particle pollution.
Jennette Gayer of Environment Georgia, an advocacy group, said the Lung Association report “proves we need to be doing everything we can to clean up Georgia’s major sources of air pollution — the transportation and power sectors.”
She cited some bright spots, including
Atlanta’s commitment to phase out electricity from coal, natural gas and nuclear power; and the General Assembly’s passage of a bill to boost mass transit and lessen commuters’ dependence on automobiles. But Gayer and Deen were critical of current federal policies on air pollution.
There has been considerable discussion in Washington in recent months about environmental regulations and how they are enforced, leading to political debates and litigation against the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We can and should do more to protect the air we breathe and save lives,” Deen said.
She said the Lung Association in Georgia calls on Congress to defend the Clean Air Act, “currently under threat from those who want to weaken this effective public health law.”
“We also call on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement and enforce the law instead of trying to roll back major safeguards like the Clean Power Plan and cleaner cars, both steps that help us fight climate change and reduce air pollution,” Deen said.