Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ) will hold an Open House on Tuesday, May 29, and a Public Hearing on Thursday, May 31, on the request for an air quality permit for the DKL Holdings Inc. Marana Regional Landfill. When open, the landfill will operate at 14805 W. Avra Valley Road in Marana.

The meetings will be held at the Geasa-Marana Branch Library, 13370 N. Lon Adams Road in Marana. The Open House will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 29. PDEQ staff will be available to answer questions from the public regarding aspects of the air quality proposed permit, including permit requirements and PDEQ enforcement of proposed permit provisions.

The Public Hearing will be at the Geasa-Marana Branch Library on Thursday, May 31, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. There will be an opportunity at this meeting for the public to speak about the proposed Marana Regional Landfill air quality permit or to drop off written comments about the permit.

The draft air quality permit requires the Marana Regional Landfill to control landfill gas, as per federal standards, and meet Pima County standards for dust control. Fugitive dust, tiny solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in the air we breathe, is one of the most significant air pollutants in Pima County and has serious impacts on human health and the environment. During the start up of the landfill, fugitive dust produced during construction and operation will be the primary air quality concern.

Future landfill operations will require the installation and operation of a landfill gas collection and control system. Based upon estimated landfill waste disposal rates, it is not anticipated that the landfill gas collection and control system will be required until 2016. When the landfill reaches the federal threshold, operators must immediately develop a gas collection and control plan for review and approval by Pima County.

The official public comment period for the proposed permit began on May 1, 2012 and will end on May 31, 2012. Copies of the permit application and relevant background material may be reviewed at www.deq.pima.gov or during normal business hours at the PDEQ offices, 33 N. Stone Ave., Suite 700, in Tucson. For additional information, please call (520) 243-7400.

The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality is issuing an air quality advisory due to the potential for elevated levels of particulate matter this afternoon and tonight.

The dry conditions and winds are causing higher than normal levels of airborne particulate matter today and wind gusts are predicted to be as high as 34 miles per hour tonight and 47 m.p.h. tomorrow afternoon.

Particulate matter is made up of tiny specks of soot, dust, and aerosols that are suspended in the air we breathe.

Individuals with heart disease and respiratory sensitivities may wish to reduce exposure to outside air this afternoon and tonight. And if you need to go outside, it is suggested you reduce your level of exertion to decrease the amount of particulates you breathe into your lungs.

This advisory will be in effect as long as current weather conditions continue.

PDEQ monitors air pollution in our region at 18 air quality monitoring sites. Up-to-the-hour air pollution levels are available online at the PDEQ website www.airinfonow.org or by calling the PDEQ hotline at (520) 882-4AIR.

Pima County, Ariz. (April 2, 2012) – The 2011-12 winter air-pollution season – October through March – has ended uneventfully, according to the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, which monitors air quality.

Several air-quality advisories were issued over the winter by PDEQ to warn sensitive individuals of potential particulate problems on windy days. But there were no official unhealthy days recorded this winter for any of the six air pollutants that PDEQ monitors.

However, the approaching hot, stagnant days that will occur during the warmer months favor the formation of a pollutant called “ground-level ozone.”  This human-caused pollutant is different from the ozone layer that occurs naturally in the atmosphere above us and protects us from the sun.

Ground-level ozone can cause short-term health effects including chest pain, coughing, and nose and throat irritation. It is also linked to increased symptoms for those with respiratory disease such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.

Up-to-the-hour air pollution information is available on PDEQ’s website at www.AirInfoNow.org or by calling (520) 882-4AIR.  The Air Info Now website also creates real-time “ozone maps” to show where ozone is forming over our community.

Residents can sign up to receive emails to let them know when air pollution levels are forecasted to cause health concerns for sensitive individuals. Contact PDEQ at (520) 243-7446 for more information or sign up on the PDEQ website.

Since motor-vehicle use causes most of the air pollution in Pima County, a special effort is beingmade to remind everyone to maintain their vehicles; check and properly inflate their tires monthly; avoid extended engine idling at locations such as schools and drive-through lanes and try to carpool, bike, ride Sun Tran or walk at least one day a week.

Pima County, Ariz. (March 20, 2012) Celebrate Earth Day at the 18th Annual Tucson Earth Day Festival and Parade Saturday, April 21, 2012. The theme of the 2012 Festival is “It’s in Your Hands.”

The event is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Reid Park, off Country Club Road north of 22nd Street. The Parade starts at 10 a.m.

Exhibitors and parade entrants are being sought. The registration deadline for both is March 30.

Non-profit organizations, private businesses, government agencies, clubs, families, youth groups and community groups may register to take part in the event and the parade.

Exhibits should provide information on environmental products or issues such as water conservation, water quality, air quality, household hazardous waste, sustainability or other “eco” topics. Exhibitors should provide engaging, hands-on activities for all, with take-away information about how to preserve our wonderful world.

Parade entrants should share friendly messages about eco issues. They can reflect the parade theme “It’s in Your Hands.” Environmentally themed floats must be human-powered or use alternate fuel.

If your auto, bike or motorcycle runs on clean fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electricity, ethanol, propane and even waste vegetable oil, show it off and provide information on alternate fuels at an exhibit at the park.

Middle school students will show off their design and construction skills in a competition for the best solar model vehicle. Kits for this competition are available from the Society of Women Engineers at www.swetucson.org/solar.

For more on the event, go to www.tucsonearthday.org, call (520) 206-8814 or e-mail tucsonearthday@yahoo.com. Also, Tucson Earth Day Festival is on Facebook.

Pima County, Ariz. – The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory for particulate-matter air pollution on Wednesday.

Dry conditions and gusty winds are causing elevated levels of airborne particulate matter. Particulate matter is made up of tiny specks of soot, dust, vehicle emissions and aerosols suspended in the air.

The advisory is for a 24-hour period.

Individuals with heart disease and respiratory sensitivities may wish to reduce their exposure to outside air Wednesday afternoon and night, DEQ advises.If you go outside, it is suggested you reduce your level of exertion to decrease the amount of particulates you breathe into your lungs.

 PDEQ monitors air pollution in our region at 18 different air quality monitoring sites. Up-to-the-hour air pollution levels are available online at the PDEQ website www.AirInfoNow.org or by calling the PDEQ hotline at (520) 882-4AIR.

Pima County, Ariz. (Feb. 27, 2012) – The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory Monday for particulate matter pollution. The advisory is in effect for 24 hours.

Dry conditions and wind gusts forecast at up to 45 miles per hour will likely cause high levels of airborne particulate matter. Particulate matter is made up of the tiny specks of soot, dust, and aerosols that are suspended in the air we breathe.

Individuals with heart disease and respiratory sensitivities may wish to reduce their exposure to outside air Monday afternoon and night. If  you go outside, it is suggested you reduce your level of exertion to decrease the amount of particulates you breathe into your lungs.

PDEQ monitors air pollution in the region at 18 different air quality monitoring sites. Up-to-the-hour air pollution levels are available online at the PDEQ website www.AirInfoNow.org or by calling the PDEQ hotline at (520) 882-4AIR.

Pima County, Ariz. (Jan. 31, 2012) – Pima County’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and the Pima County Local Emergency Planning Committee are offering a free, one-day training opportunity for business and industry, fire departments and local government workers to learn how to protect the community from hazardous materials regulated by government.

The 2012 Business Educational Seminar is set for Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Desert Diamond Casino, 7350 S. Nogales Highway.

The goal of the seminar is to create an understanding of how to create and maintain a safe environment for employees and the community in regard to the transport, storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials.

The seminar also will help these entities prepare, using best practices, for the unintended or accidental release of hazardous materials.

Cost of the seminar is free, paid by a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Presenters invited to the training include the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Industrial Commission of Arizona, City of Tucson Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team, Pima County Regional Hazardous Materials Team, Rural Metro Fire Department Hazardous Materials Team and the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality.

To register, go to: www.pima.gov/lepc/Training.shtml and click on Business Education Seminar.

Pima County, Ariz. (Jan. 9, 2012) – Parade entrants and exhibitors are being sought for the 18th Annual Tucson Earth Day Festival and Parade Saturday, April 21, 2012.

The registration deadline for exhibitors and parade entries is March 30, 2012.

The festival is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Reid Park, off Country Club Road north of 22nd Street. The Parade starts at 10 a.m.  The theme of the 2012 Festival is “It’s in Your Hands.”

The festival and parade are open to non-profit organizations, private businesses, government agencies, clubs, families, youth groups and community groups.

 Exhibits should provide information on environmental products or issues such as water conservation, water quality, air quality, household hazardous waste, sustainability or other “eco” topics, according to festival spokeswoman Flo Wooters.  She can be reached in Tucson at 206-8814 or tucsonearthday@yahoo.com

Parade entrants should share friendly messages about “eco issues.” They can reflect the parade theme “It’s in Your Hands.” Environmentally themed floats must be human-powered or use alternate fuel.

The  Earth Day Festival will include an Alternate-Fuel Vehicle Exhibit.  It’s open to any vehicle,  bike or motorcycle that runs on clean fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electricity, ethanol, propane and or waste vegetable oil.

At the 2012 Festival, middle school students will show off their model solar car race and solar house design skills.

Kits for this competition are available from the Society of Women Engineers at www.swetucson.org/solar.

For more information and to sign up, go to www.tucsonearthday.org,  or e-mail tucsonearthday@yahoo.com. Tucson Earth Day is also on Facebook.

Pima County's DEQ staff mounted this tower 30 feet in the air

Pima County, Ariz. (Dec. 22, 2011) – Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ) has been singled out for praise by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS).

In its December 2011 issue, the OAQPS newsletter, The QA Eye, says Pima County found a creative solution to a problem at its ambient air monitoring station in Tucson.

It said this work “serves as a great example to other agencies around the nation.”

In response to a query from another air quality monitoring agency, Pima County sent its hand-crafted solution to setting up a nitrogen converter box to the publication.

Staff working in the county’s Ambient Air Monitoring Program sent the EPA its solution to mounting a remote “NOy converter box” some 30 feet (10 meters) in the air to help measure trace concentrations of reactive oxides of nitrogen, normally lost or destroyed by a standard NOx analyzer.

NOx is a generic name for various nitrogen oxides primarily produced by cars, trucks, buses and trains. These pollutants can cause breathing difficulty in people with asthma, lung or heart disease and the elderly.

DEQ staff determined that in order to preserve the reactive oxides for analysis, part of the ambient air analyzer must be installed 10 meters above ground level.

That is where a catalytic conversion of the reactive oxides converts them to nitric oxide, a more stable gas, which can then be drawn down through connecting tubing and into an analyzer housed within a shelter below it.

By using this method of collecting air samples 30 feet up, county staff is able to detect trace reactive oxides of nitrogen. They then can be compared to the measurements of a standard NOx analyzer to mathematically determine how much of the trace reactive oxides are present in the air.

The original and seemingly simple question posed in the EPA newsletter by a Primary Quality Assurance Organization was how to properly install a remote “NOy converter box.’’

Pima County’s DEQ staff did the job for less than $300 in materials.  The solution was “simple, effective and cheap,” PDEQ staff said.

The staff machined and assembled the parts themselves and then successfully installed the converter box at the county’s air monitoring station at Children’s Park, 400 W. River Road.

PDEQ staff explains in more detail:

“An NOy converter box is part of a complicated electronic analysis of oxides of nitrogen commonly found in the air we breathe.

 “The NOy analyzer is a modified form of a standard NOx analyzer, which has been in use for decades to determine concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency criteria pollutant.

 “The NOy analyzer is a fairly recent development that is intended to measure trace concentrations of reactive oxides of nitrogen that are normally lost or destroyed by a NOx analyzer.

 “It’s a complicated process, made more complicated by the necessity of mounting a 40-pound converter box and 50 pounds of interconnecting tubing and cables 10 meters (30 feet) in the air, with the means to lower it for servicing.

 “In lieu of an expensive telescopic winch-operated triangular tower, DEQ staff designed and fabricated a simple winch and pulley arrangement to raise a section of square steel tubing straight up and down through roller guides bolted to the shelter.

 “The converter is mounted to the top of the tube and is accessible when the tube is all the way down.”

Several PQAOs throughout the country also responded to the query in the EPA newsletter but The QA Eye reported that Pima County’s solution and recommendations led the pack.

Here’s what the EPA publication said about Pima County DEQ’s NOy converter installation:

“Pima’s (recommendation) was not just a recommendation but an example that made one pause and take notes on what is possible.”

Pima County’s work showed a “well-designed and crafted custom monitoring station” made from material that had been “creatively repurposed” and “re-crafted by very dedicated Pima AAMP personnel.”

“Like Pima AAMP staff, the NCORE station is first rate and serves (as) a great example to other agencies around the nation.”

A Region 9 Technical System Audit at the Tucson site in September 2011 found the AAMP Children’s Park NCORE station “impressive.”

The county is required by the federal government to measure air quality on an ongoing basis. The designated ambient air pollutants monitored and reported by PDEQ are carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter.

This data is submitted by Pima County to the EPA Air Quality System (AQS) database. The EPA determines compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Pima County, Ariz. (Nov. 29, 2011) – Wood burning fireplaces can be a pleasant source of warmth and comfort in winter months but for some people, burning wood in a fireplace can literally take their breath away.

Wood smoke contains hundreds of chemical compounds and some of them can harm people with heart or respiratory disease, babies and young children and pregnant women.

Pollutants in wood smoke can cause the eyes, nose and throat to burn with irritation, and cause headache and nausea in some people.

Walking in neighborhoods where fireplace smoke is heavy can cause irregular heart beat, chest pain and shortness of breath in susceptible people.

The smoke can make asthma symptoms worse and cause higher rates of lung inflammation and pneumonia in young children in homes where wood-burning fireplaces are used.

Also, unless chimneys are cleaned seasonally, creosote, a combustible byproduct of wood burning, can lodge in the chimney and spark a fire.

Fireplaces aren’t efficient home heaters.

Most homes aren’t perfectly insulated, so cold air seeps in under doors and through cracks, while the hot air escapes up the chimney.

If flues are not properly installed and maintained, particles released during wood burning can escape into the home.

The Environmental Protection Agency says several of the pollutants emitted by wood burning have demonstrated cancer-causing properties similar to cigarette smoke.

To reduce the risk of harm from using a wood-burning fireplace, follow these tips:

• Burn hardwoods like oak, mesquite and pecan instead of soft woods like cedar, fir or pine. The wood should be split, and dried for at least six months.
• Use smaller pieces of wood. They burn more efficiently and are a better source of heat.
• Allow enough room inside the fireplace for air to circulate freely around the wood.
• Never burn plastics, painted wood, charcoal, printed pages in a fireplace. They will release toxic materials into the air.
• Check your chimney from the outside. If you see smoke, your fire is not burning hot enough. Give the fire more air, and then check again.
• Check before you light a fire to see if local air pollution levels are elevated. If they are, avoid using the fireplace on those days, if possible. Get pollution information at www.airinfonow.org or call (520) 882-4347.
• Remember, if you can smell smoke, you are breathing smoke!