Press Mention Chattanooga Times / Chattanooga Free Press June 13, 2000
Topical Mention
High Ozone Levels Reported in Smokies
In this mention
Park rangers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park warn visitors with respiratory problems to avoid higher elevations due to unhealthy ozone levels. Monitoring stations have recorded unhealthy ozone on 10 days already in 2000, six weeks ahead of the previous year's pace. The article attributes ozone formation to pollution from power plants and vehicles mixing with airborne compounds and heated by the sun.
We are about six weeks ahead of last year's pace as far as ozone. We've just had this smoggy mess hanging over us.
Janet Miller
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Full transcript
High Ozone Levels
Reported in Smokies
The Associated Press
CATALOOCHEE, N.C. — Park
rangers in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park are
warning people with respiratory
problems to avoid higher eleva-
tions because of unhealthy ozone
levels.
Monitoring stations in the park
have recorded unhealthy ozone
levels on 10 days already this year
when that many days had not
occurred until July 23 last year.
"We are about six weeks ahead
of last year's pace as far as
ozone," said park spokesman Bob
Miller. "We've just had this smog-
gy mess hanging over us."
Two of the park's five air qual-
ity monitoring stations above
4,000 feet have recorded
unhealthy ozone levels since Fri-
day. The monitoring station on
Clingmans Dome, an area that
attracts about 5,000 visitors each
weekend, set an ozone level
record with 128 parts per billion.
Federal guidelines state an ozone
concentration of more than 85
parts per billion is unhealthy.
On unhealthy air quality days,
pollution from power plants and
vehicles mixes with airborne
organic compounds and is heated
by the sun to produce ozone.
Hot and muggy weather fore-
cast through Wednesday will like-
ly keep ozone levels high across
the state, according to the Nation-
al Weather Service.