WASHINGTON – Maryland was the second-worst state in the nation for statewide smog readings last year, according to a report from an environmental watchdog group.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group said Thursday that Maryland trailed only Georgia in the average number of days that ozone levels at points around the state exceeded a new federal standard for smog. Maryland’s 17 monitoring stations exceeded the standards at least seven days each during the year.
“The report indicates that the average community in Maryland experienced more unhealthy ozone smog days than in just about any other state,” said Dan Shawhan, with the Maryland Public Interest Research Group.
A state environmental official said she was not surprised by the nonprofit group’s findings — the state has been grappling with smog for decades, she said.
Ann Marie DeBiase, director of the Department of Environment’s Air and Radiation Management Administration, said the hot, dry summer made 1999 “a bad year” for ozone levels in Maryland.
But she challenged the claim that Maryland was second-worst in the nation, and MaryPIRG concedes that states like California had far more days when ozone levels exceeded standards. But when number of “exceedances” were averaged by numbers of recording stations across the state, Maryland came out No. 2.
“You can play the numbers however you want,” DeBiase said.
“What they have done is compile the data” from Maryland and other states, she said, to draw people’s attention to the problem of ground-level ozone, better known as smog.
DeBiase said the state continues to fight pollution, pushing regulations this year that will require substantial reductions in emissions from power plants.
She noted that the very data that USPIRG used for its report was collected by the state. Maryland collects ozone data from May through September and reports it as an air-quality index, alerting people when levels are unhealthy.
Ozone forms at ground level when nitrogen oxides, from sources such as burning fossil fuels, combine in bright, warm sunlight with volatile organic compounds such as paints and solvents. Health and environmental officials say ozone can cause respiratory problems, especially in children and older people.
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed replacing its old standard, which measured for high levels of ozone in a one-hour period, with a new standard that measures ozone at lower levels over eight hours. The new standard is being challenged in court by states and businesses, but USPIRG used it “because it is more protective of human health,” said Liz Hitchcock, communications director for the group.
In Maryland, air-quality monitoring stations in Davidsonville, Fort Meade and Hughesville exceeded the eight-hour standard most often in 1999, Shawhan said. Davidsonville exceeded the standard on 33 days, Fort Meade on 30 days and Hughesville on 29 days.
All of the state’s 17 monitoring stations recorded at least seven days over the limit, Shawhan said. The average for stations across the state was 18.8, he said.
The numbers reported Thursday by USPIRG came from state reports and have not yet been reviewed for accuracy by EPA.