New air standards no problem for Macon area

For years local economic developers and advocates for Robins Air Force Base worried about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issuing tougher air quality standards.

The region has at times only barely been in compliance. Nonattainment means Robins can't get new missions, and efforts to lure new industry to Middle Georgia could be hampered. Industries don't like to locate in an area where expensive additional pollution controls could be required.

Economic considerations aside, the EPA says it has significant scientific proof that failing to meet the standard is harmful to people's health, particularly children and the elderly.

The standard had been 75 parts per billion of ground level ozone, a component of smog. The EPA's one ozone sensor in Middle Georgia is in Bibb County, and just a year ago it registered 74 parts per billion, which is barely in compliance.

That's why there was considerable angst when environmental advocates lobbied for a standard as low as 60.

But when the new standard was announced Oct. 1, it was set at 70. The most recent data shows Bibb County at 63, thanks in part to years of effort to reduce local emissions in a wide variety of ways.

"It was a big relief," said Centerville Mayor John Harley, chairman of the Middle Georgia Clean Air Coalition, a group made up of representatives from Bibb and the six counties that border it.

The coalition was formed in 2004 after Bibb was determined to be in nonattainment, which by extension included Houston and Monroe counties.

Ned Sanders, chairman of the Houston County Commission at the time, persuaded the EPA to remove Houston and Monroe from nonattainment. In return, he promised to work toward improving air quality throughout the region.

He spearheaded the formation of the coalition, and since that time the ground-level ozone level has steadily dropped. Although retired from public office, Sanders still serves on the coalition.

Ray Clark, who has been a consultant for the coalition since its inception, said the group's work is far from done. He is confident the area will remain in compliance.

"I feel great about the future of the Macon area because of what's going on," Clark said. "It was just a very, very smart idea to pull everybody together and have a sustained effort."

BROSNAN YARD CHANGE CALLED SIGNIFICANT

Using a $4.5 million federal grant, the coalition has instituted a number of clean-air initiatives, including helping local governments get alternative-fuel vehicles.

But some of the most significant changes haven't come from coalition funding. One of the most important, Clark and Harley said, has been investments Georgia Power made to reduce emissions from Plant Scherer, the coal-fired plant in Monroe County.

Also, Clark said, many nationwide improvements have helped, including more fuel-efficient vehicles, especially long-haul trucks.

While nationwide efforts have helped, it hasn't helped others enough. The EPA's website shows many regions across the country in nonattainment under the new standards. That includes the home counties of the Air Force's other two aircraft maintenance depots, which are Robins' biggest competitors for new missions. That means Robins now has a significant advantage in the event of a Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or if a new mission becomes available.

And the local effort is ongoing, with a significant project set to launch next year. Norfolk Southern's Brosnan Yard in Macon is a large, around-the-clock operation in which trains come in, then the cars are regrouped and sent out again.

To do the switching, the yard uses some of the company's oldest and most polluting locomotives.

At a cost of about $9 million, including $6.2 million in grant money, Norfolk Southern is replacing its Brosnan Yard locomotives with more fuel-efficient locomotives.

The end result is that pollutants from the yard will be reduced by about 80 percent, said Mark Duve, Norfolk's systems manager of locomotive reliability, That includes an estimated annual reduction of 41 tons of nitrogen oxide, which produce ground level ozone during warm weather.

The grant is from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and the Middle Georgia Clean Air Coalition. The coalition is putting up $3.5 million of its original $4.5 million grant, so it will be the coalition's largest project to date.

Asked why Norfolk Southern had to have the grant to make the switch, Duve said it wouldn't have made much business sense otherwise. Although the locomotives currently being used in the yard were built in the 1970s, the engines could last another 30 years, he said.

Similar changes also have been made at Norfolk Southern facilities in Atlanta and Rome.

Local leaders have sometimes said Brosnan Yard is the location of the EPA's lone ground-level ozone sensor in Middle Georgia, which is why the project is important.

But that's not actually true, Clark said. The sensor at Brosnan Yard is for particulate matter, he said. The ground-level ozone sensor, which is the one that determines whether the area meets the standard, is at the Georgia Forestry Commission office near Dry Branch.

Regardless, Clark said the Brosnan Yard change will be a big step in pollution reduction efforts. The new locomotives are expected to go into operation later next year.

"Brosnan Yard is very, very important to us," Clark said. "It will be a significant help to us in regard to air quality in the region."

To contact writer Wayne Crenshaw, call 256-9725.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 9:07 PM with the headline "New air standards no problem for Macon area ."