Why is grand junction so hazy

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Current Hazards. Current Conditions. Local Radar. Rivers and Lakes. A slight decline was recorded in with a figure of 6. Many vehicles were temporarily unused as their drivers were not required to work from the office, instead they were furloughed and allowed to work from home.

This had the effect of drastically reducing pollution within the city center, due to the reduced number of vehicles. Many small factories and non-essential production units were also closed which again lead to an improvement in air quality. Yet, for some reason, Grand Junction recorded the worst annual average figure since records began.

The Colorado Department of Health and Environment and Mesa County Public Health both issued air quality health advisories for wildfire smoke recently and they confirm that the recent deluge of air pollution is not coming from fires in Colorado but from large fires which are burning to the west.

There are several fires throughout Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California that are burning more than 10, acres each, according to the Incident Information System. It was reported that the level of smoke had reduced visibility to less than five miles and is likely to remain at that level for the next few days.

Air pollution in the Grand Valley comes from many sources, including vehicle exhaust emissions, gas and oil development, forest fires, wood smoke, methane releases, ozone, dust from roads, agricultural and construction operations, and outdoor burning garden waste, tree clippings, agricultural burning, etc. There are currently active oil and gas wells in Mesa County, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, with many more being proposed, including new wells near Whitewater on the southeast side of the Grand Mesa.

At the moment, Colorado has only one ozone monitor for the entire valley but hopes to change this situation as soon as possible.

Oil pollution is produced by its accidental or deliberate release into the environment, causing adverse effects on man or the environment, directly or indirectly.

Natural gas is also produced whilst drilling for oil. Natural gas is made up of light hydrocarbons and can contain carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide. If the gas produced contains these gases, it burns. If the gas produced is carbon dioxide, it is vented.

Although there are regulations, the venting and burning of gases pollute large areas depending on the direction of the winds. An oil refinery is a polluting facility that manufactures products derived from crude oil which is a fossil fuel. Gasoline, gas, diesel, asphalt, lubricating oils and other residual products are extracted from it by the simple distillation process.

The latent danger of air pollution from dangerous emissions from oil refineries is caused by two problems. The first is the technological backwardness of very old plants whose equipment and processes have not been modernized and have not been replaced by plants with cleaner technology.

Also, the location of refineries close to centers of large populations exposes them to toxic air due to dangerous fumes. The vast majority of polluted air from refineries comes from other sources of emissions: sewage, unintended and uncontrolled leaks, burning of gas in the atmosphere, etc.

Oil refineries burn excess gas not used as waste, generating a serious emission of polluting toxic materials hundreds of kilometers away. A group of concerned citizens in Mesa County is working to protect the air from harmful pollution.

As a group, Citizens for Clean Air recognizes that the air problems are multi-faceted and require attention to many different pollutant sources. Poor air quality harms both our health and our quality of life which leads to increased school absences, sick days, medication use, and visits to doctors; all of which have an economic and personal impact on the community.

Recently, the CCA became increasingly concerned about the impact that oil and gas drilling has on public health. Oil and gas operations produce many pollutants which are discharged into the air. The production, transportation, and processing life cycle of oil and gas is a major contributor to ground-level ozone. Ozone causes an array of health issues.

Some of these include acute eye irritation, chest congestion, nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath. Air pollution has a detrimental effect on crops, the livelihood of farmers, and the tourist economy. The U.

Colorado farmers are already enduring a severe drought; reduced harvests due to poor air quality only worsen their diminishing bottom line. Each macro-process directly generates negative consequences on the environment, inherent to its nature. Concern about the seriousness that these environmental problems have for society has led to the search for feasible solutions in the short, medium and long term.

In this sense, most of the large oil companies have expressed the need to face these environmental impacts through the establishment of certifiable Environmental Management Systems EMS , as part of their organizational structure.

In this work, the main macro-processes of the oil industry are analyzed, the activities that take place in each of them and the environmental impacts generated are identified and recorded.

These figures need to be made available for the local governing body to evaluate and approve. Worldwide, nearly 7 million premature deaths were attributable to ambient air pollution. About 88 percent of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. A well-fitted N95 should help with many of the particulates in wildfire smoke, pollen and other allergens — but there aren't a lot of masks on the general market that filter ozone, which has been bad on the Front Range.

You want to know what is really going on these days, especially in Colorado. We can help you keep up. The Lookout is a free, daily email newsletter with news and happenings from all over Colorado. Sign up here and we will see you in the morning! Host Ryan Warner will take the stage for a show resembling our Holiday Extravaganzas of yore this time with masks and vaccinations.

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