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Press Releases More funds earmarked for N.H. airquality studies MICHAEL GOOT Democrat Staff Writer July 30, 2002 PORTSMOUTH - Efforts to measure the quality of the state's air will be able to continue if more than $12 million in aid is ultimately approved by Congress. In a press conference held Monday at the state pier on Market Street, U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., announced that the funding has been included in a bill for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The 274-foot research vessel Ronald H. Brown is traveling up the coast of northern New England through mid-August to try to determine the source of pollutants and the direction they are traveling as part of the New England Air Quality study. The study is being jointly funded by the NOAA, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. Gregg is proposing an additional $1.75 million for the study, $6 million for the development of air quality and improved temperature forecasting and an additional $5 million for an air monitoring institute to be housed at the University of New Hampshire. "We know we have serious air quality issues here in New Hampshire," he said standing in front of the research vessel, which was docked at the port. Gregg said the data collected through this project will help lead to the development of improved air quality forecasts for the region. "I think it's great for the citizens to see how their tax dollars are being used. It's a great investment and it gives a wonderful return," he said. Ann Weaver Hart, president of the University of New Hampshire, praised Gregg for his support of this work. "It is clear that NOAA has taken the lead in air quality research," she said. "You have allowed NOAA and the University of New Hampshire to undertake collectively educational research that will undoubtedly benefit the state of New Hampshire, the nation and the world." Dan Albritton, director of the Aeronomy Laboratory of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, said that this work will help provide valuable insights into how emissions in Boston and as far south as Washington affect our air quality in this region. He said that it is great that many different agencies are working together on this issue. "With a problem of this complexity, no one institution has all the capabilities to address it," he said. The work aboard the Ronald H. Brown will compliment existing air quality monitoring stations at the University of New Hampshire. Rob Talbot, director of the AIRMAP Cooperative Institute at the University of New Hampshire, said all this data that is being collected will provide a very comprehensive look at all of the weather in New England. He compared this data to providing a unique "fingerprint" for where the pollution is originating. Scientists have previously thought that pollution in the northeast was coming from the Ohio River Valley and the midwest region. However, pollution is coming from many different sources. The data collected will be analyzed in fiscal year 2003. In 2004, NOAAwill begin a larger campaign to measure pollution sources. |
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