Valley will adopt same alert system as Wasatch Front

Tooele County’s air quality will be monitored under the same red-yellow-green alert system as the Wasatch Front currently uses.

The Utah Division of Air Quality has added Tooele and Box Elder counties into its pollution forecasts. The color-coded, three-day forecasts show ozone levels, which are a concern in the summer, and PM 2.5, which is a wintertime pollution problem. The county’s air quality forecast, current conditions, and trend charts can be viewed at www.airquality.utah.gov.

“With the growing population of Box Elder and Tooele counties, it’s important to include them in our three-day forecasts,” said Cheryl Heying, director of Air Quality, in a news release. The information is intended to help drivers make choices about when to drive or use alternate means of transit and make decisions regarding their health.

Jeff Coombs, environmental health director of the Tooele County Health Department, has been working with the state to get the color-coded air quality forecasts specifically for Tooele County.

“We recognize that air quality is an issue of concern with the citizens of Tooele County,” Coombs said. “One of the frustrations we have as a department is that as people have called asking about current air quality conditions, they could go to the state website and see conditions for Salt Lake, Davis and Weber counties, and were curious what conditions were in Tooele.”

Initially the state was hesitant to do a forecast because the county was not a nonattainment area, Coombs said.

“We really appreciate DEQ [Department of Environmental Quality] putting the effort into developing that site and their ongoing efforts to do the three-day forecast,” he said. “I think it’s something the residents can now go to if they’re curious about air quality — kids playing in the summertime or people who have respiratory problems and aren’t sure about air quality — they can look at air quality and even the current conditions and make better judgments about going outside.”

Bo Call, manager of the state Division of Air Quality’s Air Monitoring Center, said Tooele County was added to the pollution forecasts in part because of the valley’s designation by the Environmental Protection Agency as a nonattainment area for PM 2.5.

Coombs said air quality has been exceptionally good this spring with the frequent wet weather systems passing through.

Ozone is formed when emissions from cars and industrial sources mix with heat and sunlight. Ozone pollution can make it hard for people to breathe, and prolonged exposure can damage the lungs.

When a day is green, that means air quality is good. A yellow day means pollution is increasing and people are asked to take steps to reduce pollution — take mass transit, carpool, combine vehicle trips, avoid idling or using a gas-powered lawn mower in the middle of the day. A red day means levels of pollution are critically high and people should avoid using gasoline and diesel-powered engines.

Based upon historical trend data, Coombs speculates Tooele County will see less yellow and red days than Salt Lake and Utah counties because air quality here is typically better than conditions along the Wasatch Front.

“It’s important for people to check the pollution levels on our website before they drive to work each morning because certain weather conditions, mixed with vehicle exhaust, can cause ozone to rise,” Call said. “When that happens, we ask people to limit their driving.”

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com