Report: El Paso one of the worst cities for air quality

The American Lung Association ranks El Paso as one of the country’s worst cities for air quality.

The State of the Air 2016 Report compared used air quality data from 2012 to 2014 to determine overall air quality. It ranked the El Paso-Las Cruces area as the 20th most polluted metropolitan area for particle pollution, which includes dust, smoke, and smog.

According to the report, the Borderland is also the 16th most ozone polluted metro area in the country.

The report states the Borderland actually improved in both categories over the past few decades, and we now have much cleaner air than cities like Houston and Dallas.

In December 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency set new standard for air quality. It is very close to El Paso’s current maximum ozone level, meaning our city is right on the edge of compliance.

A failure to meet those requirements could impact new businesses and industries relocating to El Paso. Over the past three years, our city has averaged just above the new EPA ozone regulation.

“If we are not in compliance, then the federal government would have more stringent regulations for new sources,” UTEP Professor Wen-Whai Li said.

ABC-7 spoke with the city’s air quality manager and he says, at this time, it’s just a waiting game to see if El Paso will be in compliance with the new regulations. There are no current plans to reduce emissions, he said.

The State of Texas says, so far this year, El Paso is still in compliance with the new regulations and despite our poor national ranking in air quality, 97 percent of days between 2012 and 2014 had moderate or good air quality.