HAMMOND — Air quality in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties actually exceeds all federal air quality standards, but Lake and Porter counties don’t meet federal Clean Air Act standards for ozone because of one monitoring station in Zion, Ill.
“You’re in the Chicago area (for ozone emissions monitoring). That monitor in Illinois is problematic,” Comer said during Friday’s Annual Partners for Clean Air Awards Luncheon held at The Clipper Room at the Hammond Port Authority.
“People think the air quality up here is different. It really isn’t. The air here is similar to other places in Indiana,” she said.
One factor affecting ozone emissions was the Environmental Protection Agency’s tightening of the standards for measurement from 75 parts per million (0.075 ppm) to 70 parts per million (0.070 ppm), said Comer.
Attainment requires three years of data, which is currently available from 2013 to 2015, she said.
All nonattainment areas, including Lake and Porter counties, are anticipated to be re-designated to attainment standards by the end of 2016.
Based on monitored data within Indiana, IDEM will recommend that all counties be given attainment status for ozone emissions, Comer said, adding that 2016 monitor data within the Chicago-area will need to be closely observed.
“We are very hopeful,” she said.
Weather, however, could play a major role in ozone formation as it did in 2012, Comer explained.
“As long as we don’t have another summer like 2012 when it was 80 degrees by March and over 100 in June when we had a desert environment,” Comer told the audience. “Ozone takes heat and sunlight to form. That spike raised everything.”
The commissioner said IDEM’s proficiency in issuing air quality permits has also improved so that projects in industry can move ahead quicker.
“A current permit is better for the environment than a permit that’s been out there five years,” Comer said. “Good for the economy. Good for the environment.”
Comer’s keynote presentation highlighted IDEM’s mission which she said is “to implement federal and state regulations to protect human health and the environment while allowing the environmentally sound operations of industrial, agricultural, commercial and government activities vital to a prosperous economy.”