Air Resource Management in the Chicago Metropolitan Area

This paper discusses the approach used by the City of Chicago to encourage the implementation of an air resource management program in the metropolitan area. It explores the many facets that were helpful in designing and implementing the City of Chicago’s Five-Year Air Resource Management Program and the progress to date. Also highlighted is the social geography of the metropolitan area and the relationship of population growth and rapid industrial expansion to the area’s air pollution problem. Existing control programs in the Chicago Metropolitan Area are reviewed and are used to document the various elements essential for the success of an air resource management program. These include the Chicago Program, the Cook County Program, the State of Illinois Program and the Interstate Program between Illinois and Indiana. The authors devote considerable discussion to the methodology used to develop an air resource management program, including selection of goals, design of organization, technical development, definition of sources and effects, systems approach, and long- and short-range objectives. The importance of a public information and education program and its relationship to various segments of community leadership are also covered in this paper     

The Air Resource Management Concept

The air resource management concept is defined and delineated. Existing successful urban air resource management programs are described. The federal role in this development is briefly noted. The broad or essential keys to a successful program involve the development of an active public policy on air conservation, a dynamic organization with active support by top management, and the use of long-range planning by the program director to attain the community’s realistic goals for air quality.     

Note On The Use of Law Students as an Air Management Resource

Abstract

In this research, pilot-scale trickle bed biofilter systems have been analyzed to determine their effectiveness in controlling toluene in waste gas streams. These studies evaluated two synthetic microbial attachment media—a monolithic channelized medium and a pelletized ceramic medium. Operational parameters considered included toluene loading, empty bed residence time (EBRT), temperature, and long-term operation. The channelized medium provided 99% removal efficiency for a toluene loading of 0.725 kg COD/m³-day during the initial stages. However, continuous operation resulted in reduced and erratic efficiencies, due to air channeling caused by random plugging. After biomass accumulated within the channels and was subsequently removed by hosing, performance of the channelized medium never regained the previous levels. Similarly, the pelletized medium exhibited consistently good performance until the accumulation of excess biomass in the medium interstices also caused overall performance to deteriorate.

Implementation of a suitable backwashing strategy for biomass control was achieved for the pelletized medium by using full medium fluidization. This strategy permitted long-term operation of the biofilter at a toluene loading of 2.27 kg COD/m³-day and 1 minute EBRT, with efficiencies consistently over 99% and no appreciable back-pressure development between successive periods of backwashing.     

Inventory of Emission for the City of Chicago

A review of the methodology used in the development and implementation of a comprehensive emission inventory survey with emphasis on manufacturing plants. This inventory, a major goal in the Dynamic Air Resource Management Program for the City of Chicago, is a principal objective of a Five-Year Technical Assistance Agreement with the United States Public Health Service, Division of Air Pollution and Chicago’s Department of Air Pollution Control. Information obtained through a 75 percent response from a questionnaire mailed to 7312 manufacturing firms provided the basis for this inventory. Data on the delinquent firms was obtained from on-site evaluation by department engineers. This report will also cover computer processing and tabulation of survey data.     

Evaluation of Risks from Urban Air Pollutants in the Southeast Chicago Area

Region V of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has conducted a comprehensive study of cancer risks from urban exposure to air pollutants in the Southeast Chicago area. This study estimated emissions of a list of 30 air carcinogens from a broad range of nontraditional, as well as traditional, source types. Using dispersion modeling and applying the appropriate unit risk factors and population data, this study estimated the risks at each receptor location and the total number of cancer cases attributable to air pollution in the area.

This analysis estimated that current concentrations would cause 77 cases of cancer over the next 70 years, an average risk of 2.0 × 10^?4. Contributions from different source types and different pollutants were estimated. The total contribution from nontraditional source types was less than 0.3 percent. Although these estimates are highly uncertain, the study does suggest the nature and general magnitude of cancer risks from air pollution in the urban area studied.     

Air Quality: Status,Management and Direction

The Tenth Government Affairs Seminar conducted by the Air Pollution Control Association was held in Washington, D.C. on March 17–18, 1982. The APCA Government Affairs Committee of which John S. Lagarias is Chairman, sponsored this meeting. Dr. Jerry Pell was General Chairman of the Seminar Steering Committee which included in its membership: Gordon M. Rapier, Vice-chairman, William K. Bonta, Facilities Chairman, Barbara Bankoff, David Benforado, D. Kent Berry, Samuel Booras, William Chapman, Stanley Coloff, Philip T. Cummings, Roy S. Denham, Gerald P. Dodson, Daniel Dreyfus, Raymond W. Durante, Victor S. Engleman, Richard Grundy, W. G. Hamlin, Glenn Hanson, G. Steve Hart, Terrence Li Puma, Michael Lukey, John E. Maroney, William Megonnell, Curtis A. Moore, Russell Mosher, Joseph Mullan, Sidney R. Orem, Dennis G. Seipp, Martin L. Smith, Roger Strelow, Michael Tinkleman, Neal Troy.

This meeting served as a forum for discussion of the issues of: the Clean Air Act amendments, regulatory reform, international perspectives on acid rain, and new directions pursued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Representative Henry A. Waxman, Chairman, Subcomittee on Health and the Environment, Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives, was the keynote speaker. The Honorable C. Boyden Gray, Counsel to the Vice President of the United States was the luncheon speaker on Wednesday. Daniel J. Goodwin, President, State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators, was the luncheon speaker on Thursday.

Session 1. entitled “The Clean Air Act: Legislative Status,” was moderated by G. Steve Hart, President of APCA. Session 2. “Regulatory Reform,” was chaired by Richard N. Holwill, Vice President for Government Information, The Heritage Foundation. The Honorable A. Alan Hill, and Gordon Snow, from the President’s Council on Environmental Quality were co-moderators for Session 3. which was entitled, “Acid Rain: International Perspectives.” Session 4. “Critical Issues,” was moderated by Walter C. Barber, Jr., Director, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Condensed versions of the remarks of the participants are presented here. A more extensive summary of the meeting which includes floor discussion is available in the Proceedings of the Tenth APCA Government Seminar which can be obtained from APCA headquarters.     

The Nationwide Program for Maintenance of Air Quality

The initial state implementation plans concentrated on attainment of the ambient air quality standards in the relatively polluted areas of the country. Many of these plans must now be modified to ensure that the ambient standards will be maintained for the foreseeable future, and to ensure that significant deterioration of air quality in clean areas of the country is prevented.

The existing implementation plans currently contain many measures which are applicable to the maintenance and deterioration efforts, but additional measures must also be developed. Many of these additional measures will involve future planning activities—most common of which will be land use planning activities.

The point is made that, after existing sources have reduced their emissions to the lowest practical level, further air pollution control can only be accomplished by implementing rational planning procedures for management of any new sources of air pollution. This will require extensive cooperation among the air pollution control community; regional, state, and local planning agencies; state and local governments; and the general public in order to ensure that future land use plans include appropriate air quality considerations.     

Particulate Air Pollution in Mexico City: A Collaborative Research Project

ABSTRACT

PM₁₀, PM₂₅, precursor gas, and upper-air meteorological measurements were taken in Mexico City, Mexico, from February 23 to March 22, 1997, to understand concentrations and chemical compositions of the city's particulate matter (PM). Average 24-hr PM₁₀ concentrations over the period of study at the core sites in the city were 75 H g/m³. The 24-hr standard of 150 μ g/m³ was exceeded for seven samples taken during the study period; the maximum 24-hr concentration measured was 542 μ g/m³. Nearly half of the PM₁₀ was composed of fugitive dust from roadways, construction, and bare land. About 50% of the PM₁₀ consisted of PM_2.5, with higher percentages during the morning hours. Organic and black carbon constituted up to half of the PM_2.5. PM concentrations were highest during the early morning and after sunset, when the mixed layers were shallow. Meteorological measurements taken during the field campaign show that on most days air was transported out of the Mexico City basin during the afternoon with little day-to-day carryover.     

Radiological Program of the Los Angeles County Air Pollution Control District

Abstract

One technology Geld tested under the SITE demonstration program was stabilization-solidification. The HAZCON process was one of those tested. It treats hazardous wastes, consisting of both inorganic and organic contaminants, by mixing it with portland cement, water and a proprietary additive called Chloranan in a modified cement mixer to produce a concrete mass. In evaluating the technology during the demonstration, two major criteria were investigated by using existing laboratory tests. These criteria were mobility of the contaminants before and after treatment and the long-term effect on mobility, and durability of the solidified masses. The former criteria was evaluated using various leaching tests, primarily the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) and permeability. The durability criteria was determined from weathering tests, wet-dry and freezethaw, unconfined compressive strength, microstructural analyses and sampling the prepared blocks from the demonstration twice at 9-month intervals. This paper describes the results of the field sampling performed 9 and 18 months after the initial field demonstration and relates it to the results obtained during the demonstration.

According to the data, little or no change in the chemical and physical properties of the blocks occurred. The technology is capable of immobilizing heavy metals. The organics were not immobilized and the treated material appears quite durable.     

A Review of the Air Pollution Research Program of the Smoke and Fumes Committee of the American Petroleum Institute

Canada’s new Green Plan charts a course for dealing with environmental issues that will require an unflinching commitment to changes in thought, decision-making and action by all sectors of Canadian society. The five-year, $3-billion Plan lists 120 specific initiatives in eight areas of activity. It will enlist the participation of some 40 federal departments and agencies, alone, cooperatively or in creative partnerships with industry, the academic and scientific community, and citizens’ groups.     

Two-Stage Fuzzy-Stochastic Robust Programming: A Hybrid Model for Regional Air Quality Management

Abstract

In this study, a hybrid two-stage fuzzy-stochastic robust programming (TFSRP) model is developed and applied to the planning of an air-quality management system. As an extension of existing fuzzy-robust programming and two-stage stochastic programming methods, the TFSRP can explicitly address complexities and uncertainties of the study system without unrealistic simplifications. Uncertain parameters can be expressed as probability density and/or fuzzy membership functions, such that robustness of the optimization efforts can be enhanced. Moreover, economic penalties as corrective measures against any infeasibilities arising from the uncertainties are taken into account. This method can, thus, provide a linkage to predefined policies determined by authorities that have to be respected when a modeling effort is undertaken. In its solution algorithm, the fuzzy decision space can be delimited through specification of the uncertainties using dimensional enlargement of the original fuzzy constraints. The developed model is applied to a case study of regional air quality management. The results indicate that reasonable solutions have been obtained. The solutions can be used for further generating pollution-mitigation alternatives with minimized system costs and for providing a more solid support for sound environmental decisions.     

Air quality mapping using GIS and economic evaluation of health impact for Mumbai City,India

Mumbai, a highly populated city in India, has been selected for air quality mapping and assessment of health impact using monitored air quality data. Air quality monitoring networks in Mumbai are operated by National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). A monitoring station represents air quality at a particular location, while we need spatial variation for air quality management. Here, air quality monitored data of NEERI and BMC were spatially interpolated using various inbuilt interpolation techniques of ArcGIS. Inverse distance weighting (IDW), Kriging (spherical and Gaussian), and spline techniques have been applied for spatial interpolation for this study. The interpolated results of air pollutants sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) were compared with air quality data of MPCB in the same region. Comparison of results showed good agreement for predicted values using IDW and Kriging with observed data. Subsequently, health impact assessment of a ward was carried out based on total population of the ward and air quality monitored data within the ward. Finally, health cost within a ward was estimated on the basis of exposed population. This study helps to estimate the valuation of health damage due to air pollution.

Implications: Operating more air quality monitoring stations for measurement of air quality is highly resource intensive in terms of time and cost. The appropriate spatial interpolation techniques can be used to estimate concentration where air quality monitoring stations are not available. Further, health impact assessment for the population of the city and estimation of economic cost of health damage due to ambient air quality can help to make rational control strategies for environmental management. The total health cost for Mumbai city for the year 2012, with a population of 12.4 million, was estimated as USD8000 million.