What's causing all the haze in Northern Utah right now? (Provo: house, organic)

[suzii]

This is my first summer here, I live in Tremonton. The forecast says right now it's sunny and clear but they sky is thick and gray. Is this caused by fires out west and ozone pollution? How long will it stick around you think?

[ProtoStrata]

Yes, it's smoke from the wildfires that are burning right now.

Northern Utah weekend air quality forecast shows drop in ozone, chance of smoke

[Geo-Aggie]

Ozone plays into it as well. The Wasatch Front has a healthy manufacturing, mining, and refinery operations. These produce large amounts of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Nitrous Oxides (NOx). Couple this with the VOCs produced by vehicle exhaust and you get a large VOC and NOx concentrations in the air.

If a high pressure system settles around Utah then the weather kind of just sits there, and so does the air (because of the mountains). This is more commonly known as the Winter Inversion, because it's typically worse in winter, but it definitely happens in the summer as well. What makes it so bad in the summer is that the sun has a much stronger presence and this sunlight causes a reaction which creates O3, or Ozone.

This summer you've been seeing some record breaking ozone issues in the Provo/Ogden/SLC area, and last winter was very wet, so now there's a lot of vegetation not getting enough rain to keep alive. Unless things get wet soon the region is likely in for a stronger than average wildfire season which will also negatively impact air quality due to particulate matter.

[djt5292]

Originally Posted by Geo-Aggie

Ozone plays into it as well. The Wasatch Front has a healthy manufacturing, mining, and refinery operations. These produce large amounts of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Nitrous Oxides (NOx). Couple this with the VOCs produced by vehicle exhaust and you get a large VOC and NOx concentrations in the air.

If a high pressure system settles around Utah then the weather kind of just sits there, and so does the air (because of the mountains). This is more commonly known as the Winter Inversion, because it's typically worse in winter, but it definitely happens in the summer as well. What makes it so bad in the summer is that the sun has a much stronger presence and this sunlight causes a reaction which creates O3, or Ozone.

This summer you've been seeing some record breaking ozone issues in the Provo/Ogden/SLC area, and last winter was very wet, so now there's a lot of vegetation not getting enough rain to keep alive. Unless things get wet soon the region is likely in for a stronger than average wildfire season which will also negatively impact air quality due to particulate matter.

Geo-Aggie,

What can be done about the air? I've read as much as I can find and it seems like the advocacy groups have tried legislation, which is never too effective. And there's that campaign of Travel Wise, telling me to stay home from work.

I'm done with this air -- I need to round up some thinkers and start something that will eventually push Rio Tinto & the Refineries to change/get out of here.

[ksman]

Originally Posted by djt5292

What can be done about the air? I've read as much as I can find and it seems like the advocacy groups have tried legislation, which is never too effective. And there's that campaign of Travel Wise, telling me to stay home from work.

I'm done with this air -- I need to round up some thinkers and start something that will eventually push Rio Tinto & the Refineries to change/get out of here.

Maybe start with looking into the what the main sources for the bad air actually are.

[djt5292]

ksman,

Where would I find that? Research from the last couple years claim that 1/3 of it comes from Kennecott alone, not including the refineries. I know cars contribute a ton, but asking people to drive less isn't very well thought out... Or asking me not to heat my house and cook my food...

Letting RMP tax solar and letting the dealerships block Tesla from selling in-state -- those seem a little counter productive.

[ksman]

Originally Posted by djt5292

Where would I find that?

There are ozone issues and wildfire smoke in the summer (which is how this thread originally started), but the biggest problem and what likely brought you here is winter inversions and particulate pollution.

Check out this UofU site to start off. Read through all of the links, especially the "sources of PM2.5" page.
PM2.5 in Salt Lake Valley

There is also a ton of info on the Utah DAQ website. You just have to dig around a bit.

Originally Posted by djt5292

Research from the last couple years claim that 1/3 of it comes from Kennecott alone, not including the refineries. I know cars contribute a ton, but asking people to drive less isn't very well thought out... Or asking me not to heat my house and cook my food...

No. Here's an excerpt from the link I suggested above.

Emission inventories produced by UDAQ are generally broken down into point sources, mobile sources, and area sources. Point sources are large stationary industrial or commercial facilities that emit more than 100 tons per year of a regulated pollutant. Mobile sources are generally non-stationary sources such as vehicles, trains and aircraft, and area sources are smaller stationary sources that, due to their greater number, are accounted for as a group. These include, for example, emissions from space heating of structures, smoke from wood burning, dust from roadways, and emissions from restaurants, dry cleaners, printing/graphics, and auto body refinishing shops.

Mobile Sources = 48% of PM2.5 emissions
Area Sources = 39%
Point Sources = 13% (this is mining, refineries, power plants, etc)

[djt5292]

Awesome, super helpful.



What about these articles? Are they just misrepresenting stats?

Kennecott causes one-third of air pollution - The Salt Lake Tribune
Rio Tinto – Kennecott – UPHE

[kletter1mann]

Given that mobile sources account for 48% of the problem, I find it simply astounding that Utah hasn't adopted California auto emission standards.

If this had been done 15 or 20 years ago the problem would be very substantially less than it is now. The technology exists, it's proven to work, it's easy to implement (if the state govt were actually trying to act instead of resisting improvement through inaction) and is relatively cheap - a minor bump in the new car price.

And yet I have never heard anybody even propose doing this.

[djt5292]

Yeah... Utah is a little more reactionary.

I just wish they wouldn't let these big companies slow down groups trying to bring in cleaner technologies.

I want to get involved somehow, but feel like legislature is a waste of time. Looking for enlightenment.