It appears that our government is more concerned about commerce than our health. IDEM is doing away with its office of enforcement. This is a very alarming change - Everyone needs to realize that we live among the heaviest polluters in the country right here in southern Indiana. Just think of everyone you know who suffers from asthma or heart disease. If we have no oversight what will happen then? We need for everyone to write letters and protest this action. It is not about money - It is about the health and safety of every citizen.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/opinion/1328847,edit.article
IDEM is not only eliminating the office of enforcement they are also cancelling their contract with Evansville EPA. This is significant for everyone in the tri state. Evansville EPA services all of the air monitors if Vand, Dubois, Pike and Gibson counties. Their ability to service and test the filters from these monitors is what is used by Federal EPA to set attainment and non attainment boundaries for PM2.5 pollution levels. IDEM says the 2 people that have in their Petersburg office will handle the maintenance of the air monitors. In Jan of 08 after the residents of Pike and Gibson counties insisted we finally got an air monitor installed on the county line. We felt the need for this monitor was do to the fact that dispite our close proximity to huge polluting industry, no one had ever checked our air quality. Since there was no data, IDEM and EPA assumed that there was no pollution problem. This theory seemed ludicrus to our local residents when we learned that every county around us who had ever been monitored has been placed in non attainment for air pollution. Yet because we had no data for Pike or Gibson Counties- we were not classififed as non attainment - hence any type of polluting industry can build in Pike and Gibson counties as long as they are not in the same township as our coal fired power plants. Our local citizens worked hard and wrote letters and spoke at public hearings and we got an air monitor. Currently, the annual mean reading from the Oakland City monitor for PM2.5 is 16.21 micrograms per cubic meter. EPA says that levels above 15.0 micrograms per meter will classify you in non attainment. The new monitor must be in place for 3 years before IDEM or EPA will use the data to make recommendations. However, in light of these new changes proposed by IDEM how will it affect our data? Will it get lost? Will it be made available in a timely fashion? This issue is just too important and we need and deserve more oversight!
http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=9500163&nav=menu54_1>
All the more reason to promote clean air and water! Our children deserve it!
http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/school/31068
USEPA RECOMMENDS NON-ATTAINMENT FOR SOUTHWEST INDIANA
Despite IDEM's recommendation that Vanderburgh and Dubois Counties be redesignated to Attainment for the 24 hour standard
for PM2.5 pollution; USEPA recently informed Governor Daniels that they intend to keep Vand. and Dubois Counties in Non-attainment for the 24 hours standard. PGCQE members testified at an IDEM's Redisignation Hearing for the Annual
Standard for PM2.5 pollution in March 08 opposing Attainment for the Southwest portion of the state. There will not be
any recommendations from that hearing until late summer.
Air pollution affects every living thing on this earth. It effects our health, it effects the soil, and the water. It is a huge contribution to global warming. We are still compiling research to post on our site; however there are several links to help illustrate how air pollution negatively affects us and our environment. Please feel free to read our site and contact us with any questions. Or if you have knowledge or data that we could post on our website please contact us. Our email address is monitored 6 days a week: pikeco.concernedresidents@yahoo.com.
May 1, 2008 the American Lung Association released a huge comprehensive study regarding air quality in the United States. We found that in Indiana Gibson County has no score. At the bottom of the report it says that is due to the fact that there is no monitoring data. GIBSON COUNTY INDIANA HAS THE 4TH DIRTIEST POWER PLANT IN THE COUNTRY - DUKE ENERGY! Yet there is no data to know if we are being protected from all of their air pollution. A study published in Science Daily in Nov 2007 states that Duke Energy in Owensville, IN is 4th in the United States for releasing the most CO2. Duke's Gibson station emits 20,400,000 tons of CO2. This same study ranked the Top 100 highest CO2 emitting power plants in the United States by the location of the plant and tons of CO2. Our tri-state area contained 3 of the top 37 and 2 were is the top 12: Owensville is 4th, Rockport is 12th, and Petersburg is 37th. Remember, there is no data for the ALA to rank our air quality despite the fact that we are surrounded by some of the dirtiest in the country. Now we know why the efforts of PGCQE is so important.
What can we do to help reduce pollution?
It important to realize there are many things we can do in our everyday lives to reduce air pollution.
Conserve Electricity - Insulate our homes and buy energy efficient appliances when we can.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Nearly everything we use in our homes can be recycled.
Here is a list of just a few things: newspaper, magazines, cardboard, paper, aluminum, and plastic
such as milk jugs, soda and water bottles, laundry detergent bottles, etc.
Compost Yard Debris - Do not burn yard waste or trash! Decomposing yard waste in landfills heavily contributes to the development of methane gas. Landfill methane gas released into the atmosphere contributes to global warming.
We can also change our buying patterns and purchase things that are more environmently friendly. You can purchase laundry detergent in powder form as the box is made of biodegradable recycled paper.
Remember that most often it's the little everyday things that can be altered to have the biggest postive impact. If our children see that we care enough to take the extra few minutes to sort and organize our trash then they too will realize the importance and carry it on in their own lives.
If everyone one makes just a few simple changes it is amazing what a positive impact we can make.
Please try. It does matter.
We encourage everyone in the Pike/Gibson area to attend our next meeting. PGCQE meetings are currently being held on the first Saturday of every month at 6:00PM (Gibson time) at the Oakland City Public Library.
Notice: Members of PGCQE are asked to bring a covered dish to the December 6th meeting. Thanks!
