Try to barbecue without the lighter fluid over the July 4 holiday and you’ll reduce the amount of volatile organic compounds released into the air. Mixed with sunshine and other pollutants, those chemicals add to ground-level ozone. They can also taint the taste of the food you are grilling.

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.

What is a charcoal chimney? It’s a metal cylinder about seven inches across with a handle and a grate in the bottom that holds the charcoal. A charcoal chimney costs about $15 and lasts for many years.

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

For more information, visit www.deq.pima.gov or call Beth Gorman at (520) 243-7446.

Landfills and transfer stations operated by the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality Solid Waste Division will be closed Wednesday, July 4, for the Independence Day holiday.

The closure includes landfills in Sahuarita and Ajo, the Tangerine Landfill and the Catalina and Ryan Field Transfer Stations.

The Solid Waste Administrative Office, 5301 W. Ina Road, also will be closed on Wednesday.

For more information on the closures, please call the 24-hour Landfill Information Line at (520) 243-7400 or visit www.deq.pima.gov.

Registration for the last two summer sessions of swim lessons at Pima County pools begins at 7:30 a.m. Friday, June 29, and continues through open pool hours.

Swim Lesson Sessions:

III:  July 9 through July 19

IV:  July 23 through August 2

Lessons cost $20 for a two-week session (8 classes).  Classes are available for children as young as 6 months.  Register at your local pool.  A list of pools, locations and phone numbers are at http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/pools/index.htm.

Thanks to a generous donation from the North Tucson Firefighter Association, FREE swim lessons at the Catalina Community Center pool, 16562 N. Oracle Road, will be offered to a limited number of Catalina residents (see attached flier).

Free swim lesson scholarship applications are available on a first-come, first-served basis at the Golder Ranch Fire Administration Office, 3885 E. Golder Ranch Drive.  The office is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.  The completed scholarship application must be taken to the Catalina Community Center pool during registration to request the free lessons.

PIMA COUNTY POOLS OPEN JULY 4th

All Pima County pools will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 4.  Bring a can of food to donate to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and get in free.

Last year, Pima County pool visitors contributed 372 pounds of food to the Community Food Bank on July 4.