Since the Environmental Protection Agency announced the proposed change in Matagorda County’s attainment designation for ground-level ozone, quite a bit of public activity and discussion has followed. Speaking only for myself, a couple of acknowledgements and a following point should be made here.

First, I want to acknowledge the effort by Matagorda County Judge Nate McDonald in questioning the need for the change in our country’s attainment designation. It appears that he informed himself about the issue on pretty short notice; a good job in my opinion.

I want also to acknowledge the assistance given the judge by Mt. Mitch Thames. Though not a publicity elected official, he too quickly educated himself on the issue and helped in making a pretty good cause for reexamining the proposed change in attainment designation.

The intended change in Matagorda County’s attainment designation was explained at the public meeting held last Thursday at the Bay City Civic Center as a result of change to National Ambient Air Quality Standards set back in 2008, implementation of which had been postponed for about three years. With the tougher NAAQS for ground-level ozone, our county’s emissions of Nitrogen Oxides (Nox) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) have been interpreted as contributing to the formation of ground-level ozone in the Harris and Brazoria Counties area. Whereas the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality does indicate a degree of VOC emissions from Matagorda County, the other necessary component, NOx, the EPA has attributed to our county is probably not all from our county. I believe that there is sufficient reason to justify the EPA consulting with TCEQ in taking a second look at the area’s ground-level ozone problem.

Now to assure ourselves that the obvious does not go by unstated, I will volunteer to state the obvious: if the proposed White Stallion coal/pet-coke project gets licensed and built, Matagorda County’s air quality attainment designation will go up in smoke along with all of the recent efforts to preserve the attainment designation. Some things, like coal versus clear air, are just mutually exclusive, cannot be had both ways. Folks who choose to comminute with EPA and or TCEQ concerning the air quality attainment designation for Matagorda County might include a request to deny White Stallion’s air permit. The deadline for responses to EPA on the matter is February 3.

David Spencer

Bay City