Air Too Dirty to Breathe in NJ (Paterson, Passaic: environment, smog)

[UKOK]

Looks like every county in NJ failed.

Air Too Dirty to Breathe in 345 Counties
The air in hundreds of U.S. counties is simply too dirty to breathe, the government said Wednesday, ordering a multibillion-dollar expansion of efforts to clean up smog in cities and towns nationwide.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson called the new smog requirements "the most stringent standards ever," and he said they will require 345 counties - out of more than 700 that are monitored - to make air quality improvements because they now have dirtier air than is healthy.

Johnson said that state and local officials have considerable time to meet the new requirements - as much as 20 years for some that have the most serious pollution problems. EPA estimates that by 2020 the number of counties failing to meet the new health standard will drop to about 28.

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[wileynj]

Originally Posted by UKOK

Looks like every county in NJ failed.

Air Too Dirty to Breathe in 345 Counties
The air in hundreds of U.S. counties is simply too dirty to breathe, the government said Wednesday, ordering a multibillion-dollar expansion of efforts to clean up smog in cities and towns nationwide.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson called the new smog requirements "the most stringent standards ever," and he said they will require 345 counties - out of more than 700 that are monitored - to make air quality improvements because they now have dirtier air than is healthy.

Johnson said that state and local officials have considerable time to meet the new requirements - as much as 20 years for some that have the most serious pollution problems. EPA estimates that by 2020 the number of counties failing to meet the new health standard will drop to about 28.

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I told a few associates in my industry that Air Quality will be the next big money maker for those of us in the environmental field... I see I was correct : ) But at least there is hope!

[stmaarten]

Originally Posted by wileynj

I told a few associates in my industry that Air Quality will be the next big money maker for those of us in the environmental field... I see I was correct : ) But at least there is hope!

So true! Who thought, 15-20 years ago, that we'd all pay for bottled water? What's next, paying for a canister of clean air?
I found the OP's info very interesting...

[wileynj]

Originally Posted by stmaarten

So true! Who thought, 15-20 years ago, that we'd all pay for bottled water? What's next, paying for a canister of clean air?
I found the OP's info very interesting...

It's been an issue for a while now - the EPA just needed time to promulgate quality standards - most EPA/NJDEP employees still have no clue on how to handle it. It's going to get interesting...don't be surprised if air quality doesn't become part of a home inspection!

[Alex07860]

So true! Who thought, 15-20 years ago, that we'd all pay for bottled water?

I'm on of those who refuses to pay for bottled water, I do drink flavored water, but for regular old plain water, I do not. They'll always find something wrong with the environment, either dirty air, dirty water...what's next? they'll tell us that it's dangerous to walk in the dirt because it has (fill in the blank with any dangerous/hazardous material). Breathe/Drink my dear friends, in the end, we all end up six feet under.

[EB2]

I was surprised to see that my county wasn't on there for "too dirty" (but it's extremely close...)

If broken down, my city would probably be on there, though - it smells pretty nasty most of the time, and there's a good amount of smog.

Also, looking at NJ: they left some counties out...were those just lumped with surrounding counties, or excluded all together?

[krusher]

This is definitely a federal issue, not a state issue. We can restrict every company under the sun in NJ but it still does nothing about the Pennsultuckians burning their own garbage. Where do you think the prevailing winds blow?

[TheEmissary]

Originally Posted by krusher

This is definitely a federal issue, not a state issue. We can restrict every company under the sun in NJ but it still does nothing about the Pennsultuckians burning their own garbage. Where do you think the prevailing winds blow?

krusher - The problem with the garbage starts here. All of those smelly trucks on Rte 80 going to Pennsylvannia are filled with NJ & NY garbage. They burn it and it comes back to haunt us. Couple that with all of the mid-west coal-burning plants, is it any wonder that NJ air - especially Northern NJ is so bad? NJ would be better off building a garbage-burning facility at an on-shore site so the prevailing winds would take it out over the ocean. Those mid-west plants need air-scrubbers to clean them up, but until that happens NJ will always have dirty air.

Since I moved to NC, I've noticed how much cleaner the air is down here. None of that "pink haze" that perpetually hangs over North Jersey! I used to notice it when I was driving home from William Paterson in Wayne every day. You could see how the sky changed color as you looked across Passaic and Bergen County with NYC in the distance!

[emanon]

Well I didn't see Somerset County NJ listed and as I look out the window right now all I see are blue skies.It's no wonder Somerset is the best county to live in in NJ. Not just the wealthiest but one of the few that has clean air. Or course we have very little industry so the home owners pay all the taxes. But I'll take Somerset over those counties with the oil refineries and the other big polluters.

E

[ryanov]

Somerset has almost no mass transit, so don't act like there's no pollution there.