“What the General Assembly and this committee could do would be to call upon the entire congressional delegation to get behind this on a national level. That’s what I would urge.”

Hugh Morton -- owner of Grandfather MountainDeteriorating mountain air quality is negatively affecting public health and stands the chance of ruining the regional economy, state leaders were told Friday.

“The fact is, we are in a state of denial about the economy,” said Robert Bruck, a professor of plant pathology and forestry from N.C. State University. “It’s not either-or folks, it’s both or nothing. Sorry, but this ain’t Silicon Valley. We produce trees and mountain air, and they are the future of your economy.”

The Senate Select Committee on Air Quality meeting at Lake Junaluska brought together experts from various scientific fields, utility officials, concerned citizens and politicians for a day-long discussion of mountain air quality.

Sen. Dan Robinson (D-Cullowhee) is a co-chair of the committee, and he said the entire legislature is going to hear about the mountain air quality problem.

“I think this problem is just begging for us to get a special committee to hold hearings, identify the fact that the problem is getting worse, and get the General Assembly and the state actively involved in finding a solution,” Robinson said.

“In the last two or three years, I’ve seen myself how visibility has gotten progressively worse,” Robinson said.

All the scientists who spoke Friday agreed that the air quality problem is getting worse and must be addressed through regional agreements. Those same experts, however, said North Carolina is in no position to seek regional agreements until it does more to clean up its own mess.

“If the General Assembly can set caps for these plants, then we could initiate suits against these other states,” Bruck said.

Hugh Morton, the owner of Grandfather Mountain and a noted environmentalist, encouraged the legislature to get the entire North Carolina congressional delegation involved.

While much of the meeting focused on political solutions to mountain air quality problems, other specialists explained the health problems caused by air pollutants and the degree of pollution in the Southern Appalachians.

William McDonnell is the research medical officer for the EPA, and he said evidence of the short-term health effects of ozone is irrefutable. He cited a large body of scientific studies pointing to respiratory problems due to ozone and increased hospitalizations and school absences on high ozone days.

Although long-term studies are inconclusive, he compared exposure to high ozone to repeated sunburn: repeated episodes of tissue damage, inflammation and repair could result in permanent lung damage. McDonnell said health experts are concerned about long-term health problems such as increased asthma, impaired lung development, more rapid aging of the lung and structural changes in the lung.

John Bachman, the associate director for science, policy and new programs at the EPA, said the agency has found a “linear relationship” between increased amounts of particulate matter in the air and mortality rates. Although it is not clear whether the cause is particulate matter or other pollutants, the correlation of problems due to air pollution is strong, he said.

Renfro said the Smokies have the highest pollution rate in the country except for Los Angeles.

“The Smokies are the only place in the eastern United States that has decreased visibility in the summer due to pollution,” Renfro said.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News