Remote Big Bend NP Now Rivals Big Cities For Poor Air Quality, Health Effects, On Bad Days

[hatrack]

City folks go to Big Bend National Park for the majestic vistas and fresh air, but sometimes the milky haze and lung-burning smog above the vast West Texas upheaval are reminiscent of home. While poor visibility has been a persistent problem at the iconic park, federal regulators say recent medical research shows Big Bend's visitors may not breathe much easier in the desert than in famously smoggy Houston, San Antonio and Dallas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's newly proposed limits for smog, or ozone, which the agency says reflect new health concerns, would require hundreds of places with air previously labeled as healthy to find ways to reduce the smog-forming emissions from tailpipes and smokestacks. The roster includes the rural Midwest, Oregon's forested ridges and California's wine country.

Big Bend is more than 800,000 acres of canyons and cactuses along the border with Mexico. It's 300 miles from the closest big city, El Paso. But on some days the park's smog levels rival the most industrialized and traffic-choked spots in Texas. “This is the eye-opening piece” to the new smog limit, said Mark Wenzler, director of clean air and climate programs for the National Parks Conservation Association, a nonprofit advocacy group. “There is no escape from these pollutants, and it will be a surprising and distressing fact for people to learn.”

Just the mention of Big Bend on the EPA's smog list underscores the challenge of meeting the proposed federal standard, said David Brymer. He's the director of air quality at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which is responsible for bringing the state into compliance. “In Houston, you see a lot of cars and industry, and it makes sense why the area has difficulty with compliance” for smog, Brymer said. “It changes your perspective when you see Big Bend on the list.”

EDIT

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6853886.html

[itsrobert]

1. Isn't Juarez bigger than El Paso?

and closer to Big Bend? If you are in El Paso on a clear day you can see Juarez with a big haze of smog around it.

" It's 300 miles from the closest big city, El Paso. "

[TxRider]

2. Hmm

"The problem is not unique to Big Bend. According to the national parks conservation group, 210 of 392 national parks — from Acadia in Maine to Yosemite in California — would violate the proposed smog limit."