With Air Quality Failing To Improve, North Texas May Soon Be Classified As 'Severe' Violator Of EPA Standards

Arlington TX

04 May, 2022

7:27 PM

Description

By Haley Samsel, Fort Worth Report May 3, 2022 In early 2015, as the Environmental Protection Agency considered updates to its national air quality standards for smog, federal officials sat down for a public hearing in Arlington City Hall. They listened as activists and medical groups from across Texas pushed for rules that would allow less ground-level ozone – also known as "bad ozone" or smog – in the air. Environmental advocates pointed to the health effects of prolonged exposure to concentrated levels of ground-level ozone. Clinical studies connected air pollution to reduced lung function, higher frequency of asthma episodes and reduced ability to fight respiratory infection, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments. Jim Schermbeck, longtime director of the North Texas environmental activism group Downwinders at Risk, was among the activists who testified that January. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.