DFW air quality under par, water better

By Melissa Christensen
Staff Reporter

In the 2000 census, Dallas-Fort Worth joined an elite group of nine U.S. metropolitan regions with populations exceeding 5 million people. The metroplex also joined an elite group of metropolitan regions with major environmental concerns.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Dallas-Fort Worth is among four areas in Texas that do not meet federal air quality standards.

If Texas was to ignore the problem in those four urban areas, the EPA and U.S. Department of Transportation could withhold highway funds. However, EPA spokesman Dave Bary said the possibility of such economic sanctions is remote because the state is taking action.

Recently the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and EPA developed a 15-point clean-air plan for the Dallas-Fort Worth area which, if passed, would require:

n implementing an annual strict emissions check for the more than 1 million cars registered in the metroplex area

n electrifying ground support equipment at airports

n reducing emissions from surrounding and nearby power plants

n delaying use of heavy-duty diesel construction equipment until afternoon

n development of cleaner-burning fuels and engines

Bary said the plan would have Dallas-Fort Worth in compliance with EPA standards by 2007.

“This is a very dedicated effort to improve air quality,” he said.

Leo Newland, director of the environmental science program at TCU, said the Dallas-Fort Worth area has poor air quality because there are too many cars. He said that several years ago, Texas required emissions checks by the Tejas Testing company, but one month into the program, then-Governor George W. Bush canceled it.

Newland said the program cost the state millions of dollars, first to build the facilities and then to reimburse the company after it sued the state.

“Our quality should have improved because the testing was stricter, but Bush decided it was too much trouble,” he said.

Still, Newland said that solutions to the air quality problem can be started at TCU. He said two simple ideas would be to use brooms to clear leaves rather than gas-powered leaf blowers and to use public transportation.

“We need to get TCU students out of their SUVs and pick-up trucks,” he said. “The Trinity Express is an effort in that direction.”

While the air quality in the metroplex is sub-par, water quality in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is above the state average. Brian Camp, environmental coordinator for the Texas Department of Environmental Management, said there are no major water quality problems in Fort Worth.

“The diversity in the fish and aquatic insects is in much better shape than 20 years ago or even 10 years ago,” Camp said. “That’s a good indicator that the water quality is much improved.”

The Texas Department of Health runs a risk assessment of fish and the bodies of water in which they live based on formulas provided by the EPA. Camp said calculating the EPA formulas is a complex science.

“We’re talking volumes of text (containing those formulas),” he said. “They take many factors into account, even things like how many fish a person is estimated to eat (during) 70 years.”

With the risk assessment results, the health department may place a body of water under advisory, meaning consumption of fish from that water is not recommended, or under a consumption ban, meaning a fine may be issued by a state game warden if a person has fish from that body of water in his or her possession.

In Tarrant County, Lake Worth is under advisory, and Echo Lake, Lake Como and Fosdic Lake are under a consumption ban for the presence of pesticides, such as chlordane and derivatives of DDT, or industrial chemicals, like polychlorinated biphenyls.

Camp said the chemicals found in fish from Fort Worth lakes are not in the water, but in the sediments under and around the bodies of water.

“These are chemicals that were banned years ago and are slowly breaking down,” he said. “They have a long life.”

Newland said he is optimistic that the metroplex will continue to improve its water quality.

“Water is one of the bright lights of our environmental issues,” Newland said.

Melissa Christensen
m.s.christense@student.tcu.edu