It is National Tire Safety Week and the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality Clean Air Program is encouraging everyone to check tires monthly and, when necessary, “air up and save.” Monthly checks help your tires last longer, increase your driving safety, save you money on gasoline, and reduce the amount of air pollution your car creates.

How can one simple action have such benefits?

● Well-inflated tires wear more evenly and the tread lasts longer. Over the years, fewer trips to the tire store can save you thousands of dollars. Currently, over 63,000 tires are collected and recycled every month at the Pima County Waste Tire Collection Facility.

● Properly inflated tires are safer and less likely to fail at high speeds. Under-inflated tires make for longer stopping distances and will skid farther on wet surfaces. Under-inflated tires contribute to more than 600 highway deaths and 33,000 injuries each year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

● When tires are not inflated to the pounds per square inch (PSI) rating recommended by manufacturers, they are less “round” and require more energy (fuel) to begin moving and maintain speed since they drag more against the road. U.S. drivers waste 2 million gallons of gas a day due to under-inflated tires. Keeping the tire pressure up will definitely reduce your visits to the gas pump.

According to fueleconomy.gov, inflating tires to their proper pressure can improve mileage by about 3.3 percent. That may not sound like much, but it means that the average person who drives 12,000 miles yearly on under-inflated tires uses about 144 extra gallons of gas, at a cost of $400-$500 a year.

● Each time a gallon of gas is burned, 20 pounds of carbon dioxide are added to the atmosphere. Any vehicle running on soft tires is contributing as much as 1.5 extra tons (2,880 pounds) of greenhouse gases to the environment annually. Emissions of other air pollutants like carbon monoxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen dioxide also increase when we drive on underinflated tires.

● Vehicles equipped with Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems warn drivers when tires are 25 percent under-inflated. This warning can be too late to prevent damage caused by under-inflation, so monthly checks with a gauge are still important.

Make a habit of checking your tires during the first fill-up each month. You will save money, help your tires last longer and keep the air healthy to breathe.

The “How To” for Your Tire Inflation Inspection

For those who are unsure about how to check your tires, here are step by step instructions to assist you.

Check your tires’ pressure once a month with a tire gauge for improved safety on the road, to reduce air pollution and save money. A visual check is not enough since a tire can be under-inflated by more than 20 percent and not look flat. Tire gauges are inexpensive and readily available at auto parts stores.

Tire Tip #1:  Pressure should be checked on “cold” tires – either first thing in the morning or after the tires have cooled down for about three hours. Checking tire pressure on a car with hot tires can result in a pressure difference of up to 5 psi.

Tire Tip #2: Look for the recommended tire air pressure in the owner’s manual, inside the driver’s side car door or in the glove compartment. Add 2 to 4 psi when carrying a heavy load or pulling a trailer.

Check Tire Air Pressure in Six Easy Steps:

1. Remove the tire’s valve cap.

2. Place the gauge over the tire’s valve stem and press firmly so that no air escapes. A dial or sliding scale gauge will indicate the tire pressure. It is best to invest in your own high-quality pressure gauge because gas station gauges are sometimes misused and may not be accurate.

3. Adjust the tire’s air pressure as needed. If the pressure is lower than recommended, add air using a gas station’s air line. When adding air, push the air hose into the valve firmly, until the air stops escaping. Check the pressure every 30 seconds, until you get the appropriate pressure.

4. If the tire’s pressure is greater than it should be, use the nipple on the tire gauge to press the center of the tire valve stem and release air until correct pressure is obtained.

5. Replace the valve cap.

6. Repeat the process for the other tires, circling the car. Remember to check the spare tire.

Follow these steps each month and you will be on your way to saving hundreds of dollars in reduced fuel costs and premature tire replacement, improving air quality through reduced tailpipe emissions, as well as reducing tire waste.

For more information contact the Pima County DEQ Clean Air Program at 243-7446.

The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ) is issuing a smoke advisory due to smoke from wildfires burning in New Mexico. People living in the area who are sensitive to smoke are urged to take appropriate precautions if they smell smoke.

Individuals with respiratory or heart disease and the elderly may experience respiratory symptoms.  If individuals are sensitive to particulate pollution, they may want to reduce their exposure to outside air.

This advisory will be in effect while current conditions persist.

Typical symptoms related to short-term smoke exposure can include itchy eyes, coughing, and upper-airway irritation. Other possible health effects are headache, dizziness and nausea.

People with conditions such as asthma or other respiratory problems should:

• avoid exposure to smoke
• reduce level of exertion when in smoky areas
• close doors and windows
• use air conditioning rather than evaporative cooling

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 12, 2012) Celebrate Earth Day every day, but especially with us 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.”

This free family-friendly 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.  The festival includes live music and food and beverages  for sale.

Fun and engaging exhibits will provide information and hands-on activities, with take-away messages about how to preserve our wonderful world. You’ll learn about water conservation, air quality, household hazardous waste, energy conservation, sustainability, wildlife, nature preserves, solar energy, clean fuels and more. Also, consider adopting or fostering a pet at the pet rescue area.

 Handmade clothing and crafts from all-natural or recycled materials, locally harvested honey, and other eco-friendly products will be available for purchase.

 Be a spectator or join the Parade. Schools, bands, families, community and youth groups, mascots, businesses and agencies will be marching to share friendly messages about eco issues. Floats must be non-motorized or alternate-fueled and can be made from recycled materials for a greater eco example. Interested in joining in-? Contact tucsonearthday@yahoo.com.

 Learn about Alternate-Fuel Vehicles. Curious about saving money on fuel and reducing greenhouse gases?  Vehicles powered by clean fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas, electricity, ethanol, propane and even waste vegetable oil may be on display.

 Model solar race car/solar house competition. This contest is open to middle-school students and will show off their design and construction skills. Kits for this competition are available from the Society of Women Engineers at www.swetucson.org/solar.

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

Pima County, Ariz. (March 29, 2012) – Now there’s an interactive website just for kids that helps them learn about air, water, soil, resource conservation and climate change – and why it’s important for them to learn how to take good care of planet Earth.

The Eco Kids Corner website was developed by Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality and a student intern from the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health to engage children in learning about the natural world and their role in it. Here’s the link: http://www.cleanair.pima.gov/ .

Not only can they learn fun facts, like how old the Earth is and what air is made of, but they can write poems, guess the answers to science questions, learn why recycling really matters, take a look at the hydrologic cycle and find out about pedology. That’s the study of soil.

The colorful website provides links to other activity-based sites for kids from agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control.

The site also provides links to the local zoo, museums, the Sonoran Desert Kids Club and other venues that offer educational programs and materials for children.

The site includes resources for teachers and inspiration for science fair projects, too.

A special program to introduce the website is set for  Saturday, April 7, at 11 a.m. at the Murphy-Wilmot Branch Public Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road, during the library’s monthly Science Saturday event.

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. 4, 2011) – The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality issued an air quality advisory Friday for particulate matter pollution, due to forecasted high winds.

Dry conditions and wind gusts forecasted at up to 50 miles per hour will likely cause high levels of airborne particulate matter later in the day.

Particulate matter readings from PDED monitoring sites were elevated late Friday morning and as wind speeds continue to increase throughout the day, the particulate levels will get higher. Particulate matter is tiny specks of soot, dust, and aerosols that are suspended in the air.

Individuals with heart disease and respiratory sensitivities may wish to reduce their 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.

The advisory will remain in effect as long as current weather conditions continue.

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. (Sept. 29, 2011) – Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality has denied Rosemont Copper Company’s air quality permit application.

The company was notified by messenger on Sept. 28.

The application was denied because Rosemont failed to provide information that would show it could comply with air quality regulations required by the state of Arizona and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Information provided by Rosemont Copper Company during the permit process indicated there was a difference between Pima County code and federal regulations. Therefore Pima County had no choice but to deny the permit application as written.

Rosemont Copper can reapply for an air quality permit and demonstrate that it can meet federal and county regulations to operate an open-pit mine in Pima County.

It can also appeal the denial by Pima County to the Pima County Air Quality Hearing Board within 30 days.

The county issued a draft air quality permit to Rosemont Copper on Aug. 30, 2011 and opened a 90-day public comment period. The comment period will be closed as a result of the permit application denial.

Pima County DEQ staff has logged all public comments received during the open comment period. The comments will be considered as the process moves forward.

Pima County, Ariz. (Sept. 13, 2011) – Pima County’s Department of Environmental Quality is asking motorists to leave their cars at home on Car Free Tucson Day, Thursday, Sept. 22.

If you can walk, ride a bike, or take the bus and write about it, you might win a Kindle or a $100 gift card in the Car Free Day Contest.

To enter the Car Free Day contest, visit www.884RIDE.org or Sun Rideshare on Facebook. Write a story describing your work commute on Car Free Tucson Day.  For extra contest points, be creative and include a picture or video you took during your commute or post your written story on www.884ride.org.

Pima Association of Governments, the City of Tucson Department of Transportation, the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality and the Living Streets Alliance are working together to promote Car Free Tucson Day to move the community towards sustainability and better health.

Here are some links to help you go car free:

www.Suntran.com for door-to-door trip planning and bus routes.

www.884ride.org for Car Free Tucson Day contest information and to find a bike buddy.

http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/bicycle for lots of bicycling and pedestrian information in Tucson.

http://bikeped.pima.gov/Publications.html for the latest Bike Map and booklet with local bicycle laws.

www.livingstreetsalliance.org  for information on how to transform our streets into vibrant places for walking, bicycling, socializing and play

http://www.deq.pima.gov/air/education.html for air quality information.

Pima County, Ariz. (June 27) – Try to barbecue without the lighter fluid over the July 4 holiday weekend and you’ll reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds released into the air.

Mixed with sunshine, those chemicals add to ground-level ozone.

If you plan to use charcoal, the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality recommends using a charcoal chimney and crumpled paper instead of lighter fluid – which costs about $4 a can – to light your barbecue fire.

A charcoal chimney costs about $15 and lasts for years. It’s a simple piece of pipe with a handle and a grate in the bottom that holds the charcoal.

Once you light the paper and start the fire, the coals will be ready for grilling in about 15 minutes.

Grilling with propane gas, natural gas or solar energy also reduces air pollution.

The Tucson area is close to exceeding the federal government’s standard for ground-level ozone. Once ozone measures above the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s ground-level ozone standard, it can cause health problems for some people.

Elevated levels of ground-level ozone can affect children, the elderly and people with lung or heart disease, including asthma and congestive heart failure.

Pima County also suggests using plates, napkins, and forks and knives that can be used again, to help save natural resources by reducing waste.

And, it’s cheaper to use a paste made of baking soda and water, and a wire brush, to clean your barbecue grill. It costs pennies and is completely non-toxic. Aerosol oven cleaners give off toxic fumes.