Tourist region steeped in ozone from out-of-state emissions

The Lake Michigan town of Frankfort, population 1,490, had some of the highest ozone levels in the country this month — levels that would prompt action alerts and health warnings in more populated regions. But in this small tourist town next to the Sleeping Bear National Lake Shore, there was little discussion of the problem.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scientist Michael Copher told Michigan Messenger that on some days this month, Frankfort had the highest level of ozone pollution in the Midwest, the region that he monitors. EPA’s national air-quality map recently showed that San Diego was the only other area in the nation with ozone levels that bad.

Laura Deguire, air-quality specialist with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), explained that the pollution is the result of industrial emissions from cities like Chicago and Milwaukee pooling over Lake Michigan and then drifting ashore along Michigan`s west coast.

The DEQ operates air-quality monitoring stations across the state, and the data is uploaded to this Web site and to the EPA.

Continued – On days when ozone levels are elevated, the state issues advisories on the Web, warning that young children, people with asthma and pulmonary disease, older adults and people physically active outdoors cut back on outdoor exertion, she said.

Deguire said that it is important to check the air-quality forecast before outdoor exertion because ozone can “cause an irritation like sunburn on lungs,” as well as “wheezing, coughing, stinging eyes and more labored breathing.”

“High ozone levels are normally an afternoon and evening phenomenon,” she said.

It’s not clear how people should respond to the pollution, she said, because it is coming from industry hundreds of miles away: “You could shut down the entire county and you would still receive the same air pollution.”

“When we determine that there is going to be an action day, a notification goes out to the national weather service. We depend on the media to spread the word,” she said. “The reality is we don’t have resources go beyond the Web.”

“A lot of people have a misperception,” said WPBN 7&4 meteorologist Joe Charlevoix. “They think,  ‘We live in Frankfort or Manistee, why would air pollution be an issue?’ People are not as aware of it as they should be.”

Charlevoix said he plans to follow the state advisory system more closely.

Dave Harden, 79, has lived in Frankfort since 1990 and was outside operating glider planes last week while ozone levels were considered dangerous by the EPA.

He said that he has never heard discussion of any health risk associated with outdoor recreation during elevated ozone periods.

“Everybody passes the buck,” he said, ” You’d think if it’s so bad we’d be notified about it — otherwise what good is the government?”