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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – July 16, 1999
99-148
Contact: Larry Altose, public information officer, 425-649-7192
OLYMPIA – There’s trouble in Paradise: Air-quality trouble, that is.
The growing population of the Puget Sound area is unwittingly harming the quality of the air at Mount Rainier National Park, creating ground-level ozone that, even in low levels, can have harmful effects on humans, plants and animals. Pollution drifting up to the mountain also is contributing to visibility problems for all who live within view of the famous Northwest landmark.
To help local, state and federal authorities keep tabs on air quality at Mount Rainier and keep it clean, the state Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the National Park Service today dedicated a new air-quality monitoring station at the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise.
The station is one of three Ecology operates near the mountain at Enumclaw and Eatonville.
"You don’t have to drive up to Mt. Rainier to pollute it," said Mary Burg, who manages Ecology’s air-quality program. "Vehicle emissions are major ingredients of harmful, ground-level ozone. Summer winds sweep this pollution up to the mountain from Puget Sound, making Mount Rainier a crucial barometer of the air-quality problems in Western Washington."
In King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, people are driving 74 million miles each typical workday, Burg said. That’s about three-quarters of the distance to the sun, which is 93 million miles. Vehicle use is growing faster than the population.
Ozone on the ground has a different effect than ozone in the upper atmosphere that protects the Earth from the sun’s harmful rays. Ground-level ozone is created when other pollutants react together on hot, sunny days. When this kind of weather occurs in the Puget Sound region, pollution from Everett, Seattle, Tacoma and their suburbs drifts southeast with the summer breezes. The phenomenon is at its worst during summer months.
"We're controlling ozone through emission checks and other techniques, but we're hard pressed to keep up with growth, especially in the use of the automobile," Burg said.
According to Chris Shaver, the air resource manager for the National Park Service, "This station commemorates the kinds of partnerships we need – with state, local agencies and the public – to protect parks from problems like air pollution. Park resources are the heart and soul of our national heritage."
In addition to Ecology, the National Park Service, Mount Rainier National Park, Pierce County Air Quality Committee, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (formerly the Puget Sound Air Pollution Control Agency) and PacifiCorp (former owners of the Centralia Power Plant) helped pay for the new monitoring station.
The station is located at the top level of the Jackson Visitor Center, located at Paradise. To get there, enter Mount Rainier National Park at the Nisqually Entrance and follow the signs. There is a $10 fee to enter the park, and the center is open every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
