Suppose you are the head of your county health department, and the Environmental

Question

Suppose you are the head of your county health department, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informs you that your county has failed to meet the national ambient air quality standards for ozone, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Your county is partly rural but is home to a city of 200,000 people and 10 sprawling suburbs. There are several large and aging coal-fired power plants, a number of factories with advanced pollution control technology, and no public transportation system. Describe at least three steps you could take to meet the air quality standards. Explain specifically what effects you would expect each of these steps to have and why.

Explanation / Answer

An aging coal fired power plant would contribute hugely to the pollution of teh area, especially emiting hazardous nitogen and sulphur oxides. A technological advance should be brought about in thsi sector , coal to liquid technique can be tried in the situation. similarly alternative fuel sources can also be tried like natural gas and biomass fuel as long term plans to eradicate teh dependecy on coal and its contibution to pollution. Another prominent and important measure that should be implemented on short term is to introduce public transport system and encourage more and more citizen to choose for public transport. This would greatly contribute in reduction of emision through fossil fuels. An efficient public transport system would reduce teh use of private vehicles and also pollution checking of the exhaust from vehicles. The pollution control systems in the companies have to be constantly checked and quality mangement ensured. More and more greenery can be promoted in the urban areas to increase the oxygen supply. This step would ensure that the exhaust is not contaminated and air quality is assured.

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