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35 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, December 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 12, 2004 Public forum explores air quality By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune When 5,000 people told state officials what they thought about a proposal to relax local air quality standards last summer, two civic groups decided Southern Oregon residents needed to know more about the air they breathe. Air quality will be the topic Saturday when the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters convene a public forum at 10 a.m. at Ashland’s Masonic Lodge, 570 Clover Lane. The forum’s impetus surfaced last summer when irate citizens derailed a Department of Environmental Quality proposal to ease air quality standards in Jackson County. The episode showed that people have a strong interest in clean air, said Susan Rust of Ashland, who organized the program. Volunteers from both groups recruited a panel of speakers who will share their perspectives on some of the many facets of air pollution. John Becker of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will talk about the state and federal rules that regulate air pollution. Gordon Safley of Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. will discuss air quality’s connection to the region’s economy. Judith Byers, a cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation specialist, will describe air pollution’s health effects. Advertisement Geography makes Southern Oregon especially vulnerable to air-pollution problems. Mountains that surround the Bear Creek Valley on three sides isolate the valley floor from winds that would naturally blow pollutants away. Pollutants accumulate at unhealthy levels when stagnant air settles over the region. The problem is worst during winter, when cold air collects on the valley floor. Pollutants tend to accumulate until a change in the weather clears out the cold air and the pollutants. Inversions during the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s spurred efforts to remove the major sources of air pollution. Industries had to curtail their emissions; cars had to limit their exhaust gases; orchards mostly eliminated smudge-pot burning; and homeowners had to limit their use of woodburning stoves. All those measures helped improve air quality, but climate factors seem to have contributed, too, said Greg Jones, a geography professor at Southern Oregon University. Jones studied Southern Oregon climate records to see if there was any relationship between climate and air pollution. He said data suggest that the region began to have fewer and less dramatic air inversions about the same time regulatory programs started to reduce the volume of particulates in the air. "The climate became friendlier," said Jones, who was to participate in the Saturday panel until other commitments took him out of town. Jones said his data also suggest that particulate emissions during the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s tended to make air inversions "longer and stronger." "If we loaded the airshed with particulates, it positively fed the inversions," he said. Jones said the region’s inversions may be associated with long-term changes in sea-surface temperature in the North Pacific Ocean, a phenomenon known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. If those conditions return, the region could have more frequent and serious air inversions. That could have implications for future air-quality decisions, especially if the area’s population continues to grow, Jones said. Human activities, after all, create air pollution, he noted. "Having 100 or 200 people burning yard debris is like having an industry smokestack running." If you go What: An air quality forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters and American Association of University Women. When: 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. Where: Ashland Masonic Lodge, 570 Clover Lane. Directions: Take Interstate 5 south to exit 14. Turn left (east) and look for Clover Lane on the right. The Masons’ lodge is near the Holiday Inn Express. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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