SWO-NK’s Air Quality Criteria and Emission Regulations

The bi-state area around Cincinnati has more than a million people in 70 political jurisdictions located in four counties. An air pollution survey was organized to prepare a plan for an air resource management program for the area. The author chaired the air quality subcommittee which recommended air quality criteria and emission regulations to the Technical Committee of SWO-NK. This paper outlines the recommendations which were subsequently adopted by the Technical Committee and the basis for them.     

Atmospheric Pollution Considerations Affecting the Ultimate Capacity of a Thermal-Electric Power Plant Site

The power plant designer today has the tools at hand which enable him to predict with an adequate degree of accuracy the effect of different stack heights on ground level concentrations of the gaseous pollutants emitted from power plant stacks. Use of tall stacks will make it possible in most cases to build larger power plants at any particular site than are in service now and still operate them satisfactorily from the standpoint of air pollution. On the other hand, atmospheric pollution considerations may make it necessary at some sites to put a finite limitation on the maximum capacity that can be installed.     

The Use of Hypodermic Needles as Critical Orifices in Air Sampling

Hypodermic needles are useful as convenient low-cost critical orifices to control the flow rate in air sampling. Variations in flow rate were less than five per cent for 41 needle gauge-length combinations. To provide maximum accuracy, a simple calibration procedure is described. Needles may be reused more than six times, if protected. Types of protectors are described. Resistances of protector, collector, and prefilter combinations affect criticality at nine liters/min. Simple sampling devices using needles as orifices are described.     

The Importance Of Airborne Algae and Protozoa

Membrane filters, bubblers, and exposed culture media were used to sample viable algae and protozoa from the atmosphere in Michigan, Texas, and North Carolina from 1956 to 1967. Aerial algae and protozoa were most abundant and diverse in North Central Texas, 0 - 8 cells/ft³, less abundant and diverse in Michigan, 0-1.8 cells/ft³, and least abundant in Coastal North Carolina, less than 0.41 cells/ft³. Other significant research from 1910 to 1968 is reviewed. A total of 187 taxa of algae and protozoa has been sampled and cultured through this period. The importance of airborne algae and protozoa to man is shown as related to allergies, radioactivity, clogging of air filters, an aid in determining the origin of hurricanes and other storms and adding to our understanding of the dispersal of these microorganisms throughout the world.     

Factors Affecting Ozone Sensitivity and Susceptibility Of Cotton Plants

Cotton plants were investigated to ascertain the growth period of maximum sensitivity to ozone. Plants were grown from seed in the greenhouse to obtain a two-day interval age series to about three months old. Before fumigation with 0.2 to 1.0 ppm ozone for 1 hr, plants were preconditioned under standard growth chamber conditions with day temperatures of 32°, night temperatures of 21°, relative humidity of 50%, and a light intensity of 6 X 10⁴ ergs/cm²/sec. Also, stomatal opening was monitored with a resistance hygrometer. Ozone damage to leaves was assessed by rating per cent visible damage with an arbitrary scale. Approximately 0.6-0.7 ppm ozone exposure for 1 hr was necessary for visible damage. Leaves were susceptible to ozone when about three-quarters fully expanded. Leaves appearing on older plants became progressively less sensitive. Diurnally, susceptible leaves were only sensitive after several hours in the light and then lost sensitivity toward the end of a normal day. The two most critical questions concerning the nature of ozone sensitivity and susceptibility are: (7) what is the nature of susceptibility, and (2) what is the nature of sensitivity of susceptible leaves?     

Rural and Urban Ozone Relationships In New York State

High ozone concentrations, often in excess of the national ambient air quality standard for photochemical oxidants, have been measured simultaneously in urban and rural areas of New York State. Average daily rural ozone concentrations were found to correlate well with daily maximum urban ozone concentrations suggesting a common source. Estimations of the quantity of ozone advectively transported into New York State are more than an order of magnitude greater than estimations of the potential photochemical generation of ozone from hydrocarbon emissions within New York State. It is suggested thai the high rural ozone levels are not primarily due to the transport of ozone and ozone precursors from olher urban areas, but are rather due to natural phenomena such as photochemical generation from naturally occurring precursors or transport of ozone from the stratosphere to the troposphere. The effectiveness of a hydrocarbon control strategy for New York State to meet the ambient air quality standard for photochemical oxidants when background levels themselves may be above the standard is questioned.     

An Overview of Epa’s Implementation of the Noise Control Act of 1972

The Noise Control Act of 1972, passed by the U. S. Congress, established the Office of Noise Abatement and Control within the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. The following discussion presents the background of this legislation, a general conceptual approach to implementing the legislation, and the practical implementation of that legislation to date by the Office of Noise Abatement and Control (ONAC).