Worst DFW Smog in Five Years: Can We Stop Talking About How Air Quality is Getting Better?

As reported below, this last Wednesday was the single smoggiest day in DFW this summer.

In fact, it was the single worst day in at least two summers, and maybe longer.

One of the results of this first week of Smogust was that a fourth DFW monitor, way up in Pilot Point, Denton County, had an “exceedence” over 85 ppb for the fourth time this year and it officially joined Keller, Denton, and Frisco as locations that have violated the 1997 federal ozone standard in 2011.

DFW has not had four monitors in violation of that standard since 2007. Using that as a measuring stick, we’ve already had the smoggiest summer in five years.

DFW’s ozone “Design Value,” i.e. the highest reading among the pool of fourth-highest readings at each monitor (every monitor gets three mulligans before the “exceedences” officially count as a Clean Air Act violation) so far this summer is the 90 ppb reading from the Keller monitor in early July.  That’s the second highest in the last five years (Eagle Mtn Lake had a 91 in 2009), and 5 ppb worse than it was last year.

Air quality in DFW has stopped getter better. At best, it’s stagnating. At worse, we’re seeing a rollback. This is exactly the opposite of what’s supposed to be happening according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Because all of us are supposed to be going out and buying new, less polluting cars (thanks to that awful EPA) smog levels should be steadily decreasing. To the point where we’ll be below 85 ppb by the end of NEXT summer. It’s all right there in their computer model. If only the real word would get it together and act like the model.

And it’s only the beginning of August. We’ve had violations as late as September 21, and season-high readings as late as mid-August. With the continuing drought and heat, we could certainly have high numbers well into September this year. Grapevine is just one more “exceedence” over 85 ppb away from being another monitor officially in violation of the Clean Air Act –  that would bring the total to five. Dallas North and Rockwall are two and three bad air days away from adding to that number. We’re just two more bad days away at Denton and Frisco from seeing the Design Value climb to as high as 91 or 95 ppb.

DFW hasn’t seen dramatic decreases in pollution since the most important parts of the 2006-2007 air plan was implemented – the one that cut cement plant pollution from Midlothian and contained actual control measures instead of just being a spectator to new car purchases.

Since that point, progress has stopped and a retreat is now in progress. Rick Perry is not making DFW air cleaner. He and his TCEQ are making it harder to have safe and legal air in DFW by not requiring the same level of controls on the cement plants, coal plants, and the gas industry as EPA has required of cars and trucks. These are the sources of smog pollution the state is responsible for regulating, only Rick Perry’s environmental agency isn’t interested in, you know, improving the environment.  Meanwhile, breathers in North Texas are stuck with the worst air in the last five years with no end in sight.