newsminer.com

A widespread layer of yellow haze hung over the Fairbanks area Saturday, the product of stagnant air and the shift to wood heat.

The additional pollution from hundreds — or perhaps thousands — of new wood-burning stoves and outdoor furnaces is increasing air pollution at a time when we are already failing to meet federal air standards.

In the years ahead, violating the air standards may jeopardize federal spending and make it more likely that the economy will contract and not expand.

There will be two problems if the air is declared unhealthy.

First, it won’t be good for the economy. Second, it won’t be good for those who breathe.

The federal government could require steps be taken to show how the air can be improved. Some of those steps are likely to be expensive, inconvenient or both.

Beyond the economic damage, the effects of inhaling tiny particles of soot and dust — which build up in the atmosphere on days when there is no wind to speak of — are damaging to the lungs and heart.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the greatest health risk is posed by particles that are practically invisible — one-thirtieth the width of a human hair or smaller. When these are inhaled, they lodge deep in the lungs.

Some of these particles may remain there permanently, increasing the risk of disease. With new research, the levels considered “safe” are dropping.

On Friday, the air quality in Fairbanks was judged “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” meaning the most vulnerable members of the population. People with lung disease, heart disease, the elderly and children were advised to limit how much time they spent outdoors.

The 24-hour average for fine particulates Friday was listed at 40.3 micrograms per cubic meter.

There are communities in the Lower 48 where mandatory burning restrictions are enforced at those levels. That is not under discussion in Fairbanks, but the question of regulating woodstoves will be a heated topic in the next few years.

Under the old EPA standard, in effect before 2006, the 40.3 microgram reading would have been considered OK. But under the new rule, the fine particulate standard is 35 micrograms per cubic meter, down from 65 micrograms.

A variety of health groups, including the American Lung Association, have criticized the new standard for not being low enough, saying the nation needs a 24-hour average of 25 micrograms and a lower annual average than accepted by EPA to protect people from disease.

When there is not enough wind to blow out a match, which happens often in Fairbanks, the pollutants released into the air tend to stay where they are. The problem that Fairbanks struggled with for years — carbon monoxide, an odorless, tasteless and invisible poison — was largely cured by advances in pollution-control equipment on automobiles, but the soot in the air is an entirely different issue, given the need for winter heat and the high cost of oil.

In the months ahead, we’ll be hearing much more about fine particulates and a battle that finds local and state officials on one side and the EPA on the other.

The EPA is proposing that a substantial portion of the populated area of the borough be designated as a “nonattainment” area. The bigger the nonattainment area, the more difficult it will be to reach compliance and avoid the unhealthy label.

The state and local efforts are aimed at shrinking that area to keep it as small as possible.

The volunteer group known as the Interior Issues Council, which meets under the auspices of the Fairbanks Economic Development Corporation, is trying to gather numbers on the relationship between particulate pollution and the benefits to be gained by lowering the cost of energy.

In particular, the group is studying how natural gas might boost the economy and lower pollution, two related goals.

If gas is cheap enough, it could replace some dirtier energy sources and boost the economy.

The gas supply task force, headed by veteran Fairbanks engineer Frank Abegg, is facing a difficult job by the end of this year — mainly because there are so many unknowns and variables about supplying natural gas and time is short.

But the research project is a laudable step in the right direction.