Managing the Environment, As Best We Can

Author: Larry Fisher, Practice Director, Automotive, Energy and Emerging Technologies

Published: 21 Jun 2010

Even as it continues to respond to the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico by monitoring the air, water, and soil for chemical, ozone, and particulate contaminants, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued new standards for atmospheric emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) that it says will protect public health to the extent of “preventing 2,300 to 5,900 premature deaths and 54,000 asthma attacks a year.” According to EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, “We’re taking on an old problem in a new way, one designed to give all American communities the clean air protections they deserve.” Sulfur Dioxide, she said, is “one of the many pollutants we’ve been able to significantly reduce through the Clean Air Act, keeping people healthy, protecting our environment and growing our economy. The new standard – the first in almost 40 years – will ensure continued success in meeting those challenges.”

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