June 17, 2005

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

EPA, city celebrate clean air benchmark

Atlanta meets smog standard, first time since '78

Stacy Shelton - Staff

Metro Atlanta officially passed its first clean air test, finally meeting a smog standard that's hovered over the region like haze since 1978.

"This is big news," said Jimmy Palmer, regional administrator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, speaking at Thursday's announcement on the Capitol steps with Gov. Sonny Perdue and metro Atlanta leaders. State officials knew they had passed the milestone last year but were waiting on the EPA's validation.

The region missed the EPA's original deadline to clean up its air by six years, and in the process shifted some federal road construction money into mass transit and other traffic-reducing projects.

Palmer said naysayers believed this day would never come because of Atlanta's go-go growth and industrial polluters. "What do we get for it? Substantial reductions in health risks," he said. EPA data shows ground level ozone, created when sunlight mixes with exhaust from cars and industries, can trigger asthma attacks and cause lung damage.

Thursday's congratulatory tone was tempered by reminders that 20 metro Atlanta counties are failing the EPA's new ozone test finalized last year. The new one is more protective of public health and much harder to pass.

During the next year, state, regional and business leaders will develop a plan to meet the new standard by 2007. Measures in place will remain, including vehicle emission tests, cleaner gas and controls on smokestack emissions.

"We're not allowed to stop doing what we were doing to get here," said Charles Krautler, executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Environmental groups applauded the announcement while cautioning there's still a lot of work to do. The region has violated the new ozone standard two days this year. Thursday was a code orange day, when the air was expected to be unhealthy for children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems.