Something in the Air
This week, the American Lung Association released its 2013 "State of the Air" report card and Lake County received an "F."
Cook County also received an "F" but the other Chicago area collar counties (McHenry, Kane, DuPage and Will) all received B's.
Incinerator-Free Lake County has been trying to raise awareness with citizens and elected officials in Lake County that "our air quality is very poor and much worse than any of the other collar counties," said Barbara Klipp, the organization's co-founder and spokesperson.
On Monday, Incinerator-Free Lake County will be speaking to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at a hearing in Chicago on behalf of Lake County residents, who are invited to attend.
Incinerator-Free Lake County, along with the Sierra Club and a coalition of other organizations, will be at the hearing to support the EPA's proposed "Tier 3" tailpipe standards to reduce the amount of sulfur in gasoline.
"These standards are reported to raise the cost of gas by 1 cent per gallon, but we are already paying much more than that by virtue of the fact that health care costs, health insurance and life insurance all cost us more because we live in Lake County and the air quality is so poor," said Klipp.
"This is especially poignant after Midwest Generation, our largest source of air pollution in the county (by far), was recently granted a variance to have a two-year extension before installing their sulfur dioxide pollution control equipment they agreed to install a number of years ago."
Public comment
The public hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in LaSalle Ballroom 2 of the Doubletree Magnificent Mile, in Chicago. There will be a pre-event rally and group photo at 9:30 a.m.
Residents can also submit comment to the EPA through June 13. Go to www.regulations.gov or e-mail A-and-R-Docket@epa.gov.
All comments should be identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2011-0135.
Mail comments to:
Environmental Protection Agency
Air and Radiation Docket and Information Center (6102T)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20460
Information provided by Incinerator-Free Lake County and the American Lung Association.