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Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE)

Press Mention Knoxville News-Sentinel April 30, 2001

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Knoxville is 9th in nation for dirty air

By Morgan Simmons · Knoxville News-Sentinel

In this mention

The American Lung Association's 2001 'State of the Air' report ranked Knoxville ninth worst in the nation for ozone pollution, with four Tennessee cities in the top 25. Stephen Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy noted that while TVA has committed to reducing nitrogen oxide emissions from coal plants, a national approach is needed since TVA plants are not the only source of the problem.

Although TVA has committed to cleaning up the ozone-creating pollutants from many of its plants, we need a national approach to reducing pollution from plants everywhere because TVA plants aren't the only problem.

Stephen A. Smith

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Polluted air rankings
Metro areas with worst ozone air pollution
as ranked by the American Lung Association

  1. Los Angeles/Riverside/Orange Co., Calif.
  2. Bakersfield, Calif.
  3. Fresno, Calif.
  4. Visalia/Tulare/Porterville, Calif.
  5. Houston/Galveston/Brazoria, Texas
  6. Atlanta
  7. Washington/Baltimore
  8. Charlotte/Gastonia, N.C./Rock Hill, S.C.
  9. Knoxville
  10. Philadelphia/Wilmington, De./Atlantic City, N.J.
  11. Nashville
  12. Memphis
  13. Chattanooga

Knoxville
is 9th in
nation for
dirty air
4 Tennessee cities
make top 25 list

By Morgan Simmons
News-Sentinel staff writer

Last year's "State of the Air" report by the American Lung Association ranked Knoxville the 12th most air-polluted metropolitan area in the United States.

In the 2001 report to be released today, the city earned even worse marks, finishing ninth.

"Unfortunately, you guys are moving up," said Janis Nolan, director of programs for the American Lung Association of Tennessee.

Tennessee as a whole ranked poorly in the report, placing four cities in the top 25 for bad air. Nashville was 16th on the list, and Memphis was 22nd. Chattanooga didn't make the list last year but was included this year in 25th place.

The report focused on ozone, the most pervasive and widely-monitored form of air pollution.

The report's release coincides with the beginning of the ozone season, which peaks in the summer and subsides with the return of cooler temperatures in the fall.

A powerful respiratory irritant, ozone is formed when sunlight interacts with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, most of which are produced by coal burning power plants and automobiles.

Nolan said Tennessee's ozone comes from pollutants released by the Tennessee Valley Authority's power plants as well as contaminants blown in from sources in the Midwest.

"Because of the confluence of where we're located, we tend to see more problems than other states," Nolan said.

The American Lung Association's report also included county-by-county statistics on air pollution, based on monitoring data collected from 1997 to 1999.

The report examines ozone air quality using the most recent data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report grades and ranks counties on how often their air quality exceeds the

human health standard set by the EPA over an eight-hour average.
There are two stations in Knox County for monitoring ozone.
Ozone is particularly harmful to people with respiratory maladies, to children below the age of 14 and to people over 65.
According to the report, the Knoxville area has more than 124,000 children under 14 and about 89,000 people over 65. The area also has an estimated 17,800 adults with asthma and nearly 8,000 children with asthma.

"We don't factor in how much air pollution contributes to the health of the community," Nolan said. "Our air is cleaner than it used to be, so in a sense we've come a long way. We'll be satisfied when our air doesn't make people sick, and so far we don't have that situation."

Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said TVA's commitment to reducing nitrogen oxide emissions at its coal burning power plants should improve East Tennessee's air quality since dirty power plants are the single largest source contributing to the ozone problem.

Smith said: "Although TVA has committed to cleaning up the ozone-creating pollutants from many of its plants, we need a

County air rankings
Counties with worst ozone air pollution
as ranked by the American Lung Association

  1. San Bernardino, Calif.
  2. Riverside, Calif.
  3. Kern, Calif.
  4. Fresno, Calif.
  5. Tulare, Calif.
  6. Harris, Texas
  7. Fulton, Ga.
  8. Los Angeles, Calif.
  9. Rockdale, Ga.
  10. Anne Arundel, Md.
  11. Mecklenburg, N.C.
  12. Sevier
  13. Blount
  14. Ventura, Calif.
  15. Knox

national approach to reducing pollution from plants everywhere because TVA plants aren't the only problem."

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park typically registers some of the highest ozone levels recorded anywhere in the nation due to its mountain topography and its location near many major sources of pollution.

So far this year the park has not yet issued any ozone advisories, but the park's ozone season typically doesn't begin until May and it lasts until mid-September.

Morgan Simmons may be reached at 865-342-6321 or simmonsm@knews.com.