Those hazy, crazy high-ozone days of summer are the price of admission for living in Lancaster County.

But this year, thanks to new programs and better coordination of voluntary ozone-fighting efforts, it should be easier than ever for people to help cut pollution that contributes to lung-searing smog.

That's the message the Susquehanna Valley Ozone Action Partnership will highlight throughout the five-month 2003 ozone season, which started last Thursday with an "Ozone Awareness Month'' proclamation by Gov. Ed Rendell.

The theme will come through loud and clear this Wednesday when the county launches its new federally funded RidePride carpooling initiative.

And it will resound again during National Bike to Work Week May 12-16.

The week starts with a Monday, May 12, Bike Month Resolution Ride from Lancaster to Harrisburg by a bike coalition including Mike Ridgeway and state Rep. Roy Baldwin.

Other Bike to Work activities include a Clean Air Cup Corporate Challenge sponsored by Pfizer Inc., a Tuesday, May 13, clean air expo to teach high school students about pollution and its impacts and a Friday, May 16, ozone action summer kickoff from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Penn Square.

Red Rose Transit Authority will unveil its new cleaner-running buses during the kickoff. Other events include a bike and electric lawnmower giveaway and a Frisbee contest on the square.

Also on tap that Friday is an open house at 54 N. Prince St. to promote the Dream Ride Cycle (commuting) Centre. Throughout the season, Ridgeway's Dream Ride Projects will sponsor many programs to encourage bicycling and fitness.

The county's first heritage bicycle route, a 17-mile corridor in East Donegal Township, will debut May 19, the beginning of National Ozone Awareness Week.

During ozone action days this summer, commuters will again be invited to ride transit buses for free.

The season is expected to generate an average number of unhealthy ozone days, according to state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman John Repetz.

Health experts say ground-level ozone boosts the long-term chance of respiratory illness for healthy adults. Dirty air poses even more serious risks for children and the elderly as well as anyone who works or exercises outdoors or suffers from chronic lung disorders like asthma or emphysema.

Lancaster County logged 22 ozone action days last year and 19 in 2001, according to Repetz. The county still does not meet federal clean air requirements.

Air quality here was the 27th worst in the nation, according to the American Lung Association's 2003 "State of the Air'' report released Thursday. Pollution has not significantly lessened during four years of reporting, said the association's Kevin Stewart.

Darkening the outlook, according to Stewart, are Bush administration policies that threaten to weaken the Clean Air Act.

Another challenge for the partners this summer will be introducing ozone alert codes that comply with the federal air quality index scale.

So take a deep breath. And take advantage of DEP's daily ozone forecasts, now available for the first time on your home computer. (To sign up for the free forecasts, log onto www.dep.state.pa.us and type "dep ozone action.'') "I think it's just a continuation of the education process,'' Repetz said. "It's just another way to get the word out.'' nAs in the past, the 6-year-old ozone partnership is stressing simple steps to reduce ozone, the colorless, odorless gas created by a stew of tailpipe vapors, fumes from solvents, power plant emissions and other pollutants cooking in the hot midday sun.

Wait until evening to mow your yard and fill your gas tank, for example. Limit daytime driving. Wash dishes and clothes with full loads. Carpool, bicycle or ride the bus to work.

The last three options should be easier than ever this summer, especially for workers in downtown Lancaster.

Take RidePride, a program developed by the year-old Lancaster County Transportation Management Services in conjunction with the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Franklin & Marshall College students.

The program promises to improve air quality, save commuter dollars and also cut congestion by using a computerized registry to match potential carpoolers who share similar work schedules, said TMS Executive Director Travis Martin.

During a sneak preview last week, Martin added, the project created a positive buzz among county employees who will serve as pilot commuters for the project.

Companies that cover employee parking costs can realize considerable savings by giving workers incentives to carpool, Martin said.

Employees typically pay $50 to $60 a month to park downtown, noted Martin, who added that mobile sources contribute about a third of the emissions that form smog.

Busing has also become more convenient, thanks to 16 new wheelchair-accessible transit authority vehicles boasting bike racks and engines that meet toughened federal standards for diesels. According to the authority, two buses will serve the county's Park-N-Ride program.

Meanwhile, the partnership reported, so far this year, 61 businesses have pledged to encourage workers to ride the bus on Ozone Action Days via Share the Ride. Each business was given a free supply of bus passes to hand out to employees on days when air quality exceeds federal limits for ozone and particulate matter.

Among the larger groups involved in the program are Lancaster city and county, Lancaster General Hospital, Millersville University, Pfizer and the Manheim Auto Auction.

The coalition, which includes 100 Lancaster County businesses and individuals partnering with the county and the state DEP, has much on its plate this season.

One priority is introducing people to the new ozone alert color code, which brings DEP into compliance with the federal Environmental Protection Agency index, said partnership coordinator Ann Meyers.

Orange and red codes both signal ozone action days under the new system. The change simply subdivides the old DEP "red'' category into two colors, Meyers explained. As always, air will be deemed unhealthy when ozone levels exceed 85 parts per billion.

"The net result is we're going to have the same number of ozone action days'' as before.

If not more.

A milder summer in 2002 resulted in slight improvements to Pennsylvania air quality compared with 2001, according to the Lung Association.

But hot weather this year could worsen the status. At the same time, said Kevin Stewart, director of environmental and occupational health for the American Lung Association of Pennsylvania, "appalling'' environmental protection rollbacks proposed by Washington pose the most dire threat to clean air in 30 years.

"The Bush administration's so-called Clear Skies proposal'' offers less legal protection than current regulations,

Stewart said.

Meanwhile, he added, Pennsylvania and nine other northeastern states have sued to block additional Bush regulatory changes that they say allow old, dirty power plants to belch more emissions.

Smog fighters say that undermines their efforts because many ozone pollutants drift into the Northeast from smokestacks in the Ohio Valley and beyond.

According to the State of the Air report, the majority of Pennsylvanians, 10.5 million people, face potential health risks because of governmental delays in cleaning up smog.

Those numbers include more than 25,000 Lancaster County adults with asthma and 7,000 children who suffer asthma attacks. Also threatened are 16,000 people with chronic bronchitis, almost 6,000 with emphysema, 105,000 children under age 15 and 66,000 adults 65 or above.

Despite the dire statistics, ozone fighters are optimistic about the new season. "We're drawing more people into these programs,'' Meyers pointed out. "More businesses are participating. We're cooperating on funding requests so it's not every group going after the same pot of dollars.'' Education efforts seem to be sinking in, said Charlie Souders of Pfizer.

"Our statistics show that public awareness has risen,'' he said. The more people who realize that small behavioral changes can make a difference, the better off everyone will be.

"We need to take those voluntary actions,'' he said. "Just modifying behavior slightly will help to improve the situation.'' blog comments powered by Disqus