It's a sunny summer day, but a radio announcement has just changed the plans of anyone who has environmental concerns.
"An ozone action day has been declared for the Chicago metropolitan region," reports WBEZ's Lisa Labuz. On WMAQ, meanwhile, Pat Cassidy shares information from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, suggesting to his listeners that they car pool, take public transportation if possible and avoid firing up the gas mower.
Radio and television stations have incorporated such messages into routine news, weather and traffic. But many Chicagoans may not realize that
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some of their city's pollution is blowing in from St. Louis. And that the process, called "ozone transport," is partly why many states, including Illinois, have had difficulty meeting federal air quality standards.
When many people hear the word "ozone," they think of the upper atmosphere that helps filter harmful ultraviolet radiation. But there's another kind of ozone: lower-level ozone, created by the right combination of sunlight and emissions from coal-burning power plants and
automobiles.
That kind of pollution has far-reaching consequences, too. People who have asthma and other respiratory diseases can suffer; older people and young children may find it harder to breathe.
The federal environmental agency regularly measures levels of this ozone, and, on sunny days, Chicago often exceeds the levels considered safe. That's partly due to volatile organic chemicals that are spewed by cars and trucks. Chicago-area officials have been attempting to reduce that problem by encouraging residents to use car pools and public transportation and let the lawn go a bit.
These are local solutions for local problems. But another source of pollution, nitrogen oxide emissions from coal-burning power plants, may not be so local. And that's a problem requiring a not-so-local solution.
"This ozone is transported and can be transported several hundred miles or more, typically along the prevailing wind directions," explains Randall Robinson, the U.S. EPA's regional meteorologist who works out of Chicago. Generally, the prevailing winds travel from St. Louis to Chicago.
"We know we do have some responsibility for it," concedes Peter Goode, an environmental engineer with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Nitrogen oxide from eastern Missouri power plants also contributes to the ozone problem in St. Louis, making that city exceed federal standards as well.
Illinois is more than a hapless victim of interstate pollution, though. Because this state's power plants also release nitrogen oxide, Illinoisans are sending ozone-making pollution into Wisconsin, and sometimes Michigan. As a result, officials from the states surrounding Lake Michigan have been working together to help Chicago and other cities meet federal standards. Missouri was asked to help, too.
And that should be a happy ending. But the story is more complicated than that.
The federal environmental agency has turned up the heat by calling on the Midwestern states to further reduce nitrogen oxide emissions because they've been drifting to the Northeastern states. But several of the Midwestern states -- Illinois was not among them -- sued, challenging the federal data.
Last month, the U.S. court of appeals in Washington, D.C., upheld the federal agency, but exempted Missouri. The court ruled the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doesn't have sufficient data to determine whether or not Missouri's nitrogen oxide emissions have been contributing to pollution problems farther to the east -- meaning that, for the time being, Missouri will not have to meet new stricter federal requirements.
Still, under that separate agreement with Illinois, the Show Me state aims to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions enough to help Chicago.
"Our regulation is somewhat less stringent [than federal requirements], but we think it's what's necessary to address the air quality problems in the Midwest," says Missouri's Peter Goode. Those reductions will have to be enough to help St. Louis, while reducing the amount of ozone transported to Chicago and beyond. "It's in our own best interest to help St. Louis. But at the same time, [that] will benefit other downwind areas."
"That certainly helps our situation in Illinois," responds Thomas Skinner, the director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. "In the long run, the questions will be whether it's enough, goes far enough to deal with the emissions coming out of the two states to allow us to meet our obligations."
The feds also are keeping a close eye on the agreement. The chief of air quality programs for the region, Stephen Rothblatt, notes that his agency will have to give its OK before the Missouri and Lake Michigan plan is implemented.
"The goal would be at the end to have emission reductions sufficient to show attainment [of federal ozone restrictions] in the St. Louis area and also to minimize transport to other areas like Chicago," Rothblatt says.
Illinois' Skinner notes that, under the agreement, Illinois will have to make sure Wisconsin, Michigan and states farther east don't suffer from ozone transport. "Ultimately, there's always the possibility that a downwind state will file some sort of legal action against an upwind state," he says. "But, so far, we've been able to avoid that. Wisconsin hasn't sued us. We haven't sued Missouri."
If the problem does get to the courts, the solution could be a lot more costly. "The last thing we need to be doing is throwing stones at each other at this point," Skinner says.
Lester Graham is a producer with the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, which airs on public radio stations in Illinois and several other states.
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