With today’s sunshine and warmer weather, ozone season — and local forecasts — begin in Western North Carolina.
Tag: air quality
Showing 22-35 of 35 results
Green Scene: Environmental antacid
The cloud of acid rain that's been hovering over Western North Carolina for decades may turn out to have a silver lining after all. A seven-year lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority ended in a negotiated settlement last June. In 2004, North Carolina joined Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee in suing TVA over air pollution […]
Landfills, power plant among five top greenhouse-gas emitters near Asheville
Want to know how much carbon dioxide your local power plant, paper plant or landfill emit? A new EPA tool maps the info, including five sources near Asheville.
Public comment open on Progress Energy plant permit
The WNC Regional Air Quality Agency (WNCRAQA) announced its intent today to modify the permit for the Asheville Steam Electric Plant, located in Arden. The permit controls how much pollutants the plant can legally put into the air.
Federal judge: TVA must install pollution controls at four coal-fired power plants
In an order signed Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Lacy Thornburg ruled that pollution from the nation’s largest public utility constitutes a “public nuisance” and must be cleaned up.
The Green Scene
It’s late August in Western North Carolina, and the trees are drooping due to lack of rain. The French Broad River is at a record low level, gas prices are higher than ever and the skies are stained with smog. Pedal power: The Southern Energy and Environment Expo offered bright ideas for people of all […]
The Green Scene
Every year for the last five years, a ribbon of runners, bikers and walkers has navigated a 100-mile route from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park all the way to downtown Asheville. More civil-rights march than sporting event, the Relay for Clean Air was created as a protest against poor air quality in the park […]
N.C. pushes again on air-pollution front
The state attorney general has renewed a legal bid to curb incoming pollution from 13 other states.
Downwind
Sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, mercury, ozone, acid deposition, ammonium nitrates, and an alphabet soup of acronyms. At times, the trial that began July 14 in U.S. District Court in Asheville sounded more like an environmental-chemistry class than a court session. After a two-year delay, the titanic lawsuit filed by the state of North […]
Health warning for ridge-top air quality today
The anticipated air quality for the Asheville ridge-tops has been changed to Code Orange today — unhealthy for sensitive groups.
TVA trial to begin
A lawsuit with significant implications for environmental health will be heard in Asheville beginning Monday, July 14. The U.S. District Court will consider a case brought against the Tennessee Valley Authority by North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper. Dirty smokestacks: A lawsuit brought against the Tennessee Valley Authority by North Carolina centers on air pollution […]
The Green Scene
Asheville’s air quality “borderline” under new standard Every five years, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to take a hard look at its air-quality standards to verify that they’re strict enough to protect public health. During the latest assessment, announced March 12, the federal agency concluded that its restriction on ground-level ozone—the pollutant that causes […]
Asheville City Council
Asheville physician Clay Ballantine delivered a grim message during the Asheville City Council’s Feb. 18 work session: Degraded air quality is causing a health epidemic, both in Western North Carolina and nationwide. Speaking not just to Council members but to everyone in attendance, Ballantine took off the gloves, giving an intense presentation that vividly highlighted […]
CIBO’s last-minute stand
Leaders of the Council of Independent Business Owners have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the formation of the WNC Regional Air Quality Agency’s proposed Clean Air Community Trust Fund, calling the body illegal and objecting to its funding source. CIBO leaders have also sent letters asking state officials to delay their approval of the […]