SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (WHBL) – Representatives from various organizations in Sheboygan County gathered at UW Sheboygan Tuesday morning to testify on ollutants, Ozone Standards, and how the county is impacted. Republican Congressman Glenn Grothman chaired the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Hearing, spending most of the time talking about the air quality monitor at Kohler Andrae State Park.
The panel says this air quality monitor was put in place to measure ozone transport blowing up the Lake Michigan coast and, when the Clean Air Act was enacted, the EPA designated that same monitor to determine ozone levels in Sheboygan County. The transport coming from cities in Illinois and Indiana, and measured by this monitor, put Sheboygan County in “Non-Attainment” Status, resulting in strict restrictions being placed on businesses and residents. An expert says the lake and sun act as an oven for ozone, which quickly dissipates as it moves inland.
The American Lung Association used this data when they recently released the latest “State of the Air” report. Sheboygan ranked #24 in the country as one of the most polluted cities in the country by ozone – right behind Atlanta, Georgia and Chicago, Illinois.
Because of these erroneous readings, and stricter guidelines by the EPA, Sheboygan county could soon be “upgraded” to Severe Non-Attainment status. Jane Brill, with the Sheboygan County Chamber, says this could result in increased costs for drivers, including the possibility of reformulated gas being forced on the county. It could also mean tighter restrictions on businesses, which are already buried in costly rules and regulations to limit emissions from manufacturing facilities, essentially making Sheboygan County a “no growth zone.”
Speakers at the Tuesday event say there’s nothing Sheboygan county can do to lower the amount of pollutants measured at the Kohler Andrae monitor. The Wisconsin DNR conducted a study, which showed that even if Sheboygan county stopped driving every car, and shut down every business in the county, that monitor would still show Sheboygan county in non-attainment. A DNR study shows that 12% of the ozone measured at the Kohler-Andrae site comes from Sheboygan county.
There’s a push from area leaders to have the county’s ozone levels measured instead at a monitor placed in Haven, which is near I-43, well inland from the current monitoring site. This monitor has been in operation since 2014, generally downwind from the industrial sources of Sheboygan county. This monitor is generally 10 parts-per-billion lower than the lakeshore monitor, and would place Sheboygan county back in attainment.
Legislators have moved to do everything legally possible to bring relief to Sheboygan county and other counties affected, asking the EPA to shut down this monitoring site – but EPA approval is required and has not been granted. They would need to change language in the “Clean Air Act” to make these changes happen, and the purpose of Tuesday’s meeting was to draw federal attention to the matter.
You can view a video produced by the Wisconsin Institute for Law And Liberty here.
