On June 9, 2022, the Larimer County Department of Health & Environment provided an overview of air quality in Larimer County, including the sources and contributors to ground-level ozone, potential health impacts of poor outdoor air quality, public health’s role in addressing air quality issues, and information about how residents can help improve air quality in Larimer County. View the recording here.
A EPA downgrade from serious to severe violator will require implementation of several new measures aimed at reducing air pollution;
- Gas stations in the Northern Front Range will be required to sell cleaner-burning gasoline. Many expect this change to be enacted in summer 2024.
- The threshold for when a business must obtain a permit and control their emissions will be lowered, resulting in just under 500 new sources that will face stricter controls.
- Requirements for those with existing permits become more stringent.
- Additional resources for staff, monitoring equipment, and pollution reduction programs will become available as a result of the downgrade.
Ground level ozone or "bad" ozone is not emitted directly into the air but is created by chemical reactions between NOx and VOCs in the presence of health and sunlight. Emissions from industrial facilities and electric utilities, motor vehicle exhaust, gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents are some of the major sources of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Gas powered lawn equipment contributes roughly half of the ozone producing pollutants as all of the light duty vehicles, and newer electric versions are convenient and quiet.
The Sources of Air Pollution
A number of sources – activities that cause pollution to be emitted into the air – contribute to poor air quality and ground-level ozone formation.
- Mobile sources – such as cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains
- Stationary sources – such as power plants, oil refineries, industrial facilities, and factories
- Area sources – such as agricultural areas, cities, and wood burning fireplaces
- Natural sources – such as wind-blown dust, wildfires
Regionally, transportation-related emissions make up a little more than half of our regions NOx, and around 30% of the VOC contributions. Regionally, 28% of NOx and 44% of VOC contributions are from oil and gas production.
The largest contributor of NOx and VOCs in Larimer County is transportation, at 70% and 55%.
In areas of poor air quality, children and the elderly are most vulnerable to health effects.
- Eyes, nose, and throat irritation
- Shortness of breath, decrease in lung function
- Can make asthma and other respiratory symptoms worse
- Increase in ER and Urgent Care visits with increase in ozone
In partnership with the State’s Air Pollution Control Division, we have six additional sites monitoring for ozone this summer in Bellvue, Fort Collins, Livermore, and Loveland. The data from these temporary sites will be evaluated to determine if more permanent regulatory monitoring sites would be beneficial to the modeling of air pollution in our area.
A major contributor to air pollution that can easily be overlooked are our gas powered small engines. Lawn mowers, trimmers, leaf blowers, chainsaws. This equipment typically is not equipped with emission controls like most vehicles do and we are working on expanding the regional program for replacement of this equipment to more Larimer County residents.
Finally, our staff are trained to identify violations at these facilities, respond quickly to reports of odors, and work closely with the state on enforcement. In several cases we have worked with the state to add additional monitoring equipment in the area where a complaint has been received to help investigate the issue.