Document 243DNY3O05YQEZYjYGv36dx5

FILE NAME Newspaper & Magazine Articles NMA DATE 1972 Feb 9 DOC NMA060 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION NYT - City Air Found % Dirtier Than in '69 City Air Found % Dirtier Than in '69 By DAVID BIRD New York Times Currentfile Feb 9 1972 ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times 1851 - 2 Pg 20 City Air Found % Dirtier Than '69 By DAVID BIRD - City officials conceded publicly for the first time yesterday that one of the key air pollutants here pended particulate matter or had increased 7 per cent over the last three years despite stepped con- trol efforts Previously the city had been emphasizing another air pollutant - sulphur_di- sulphur_di- oxide an irritating that has been reduced 50 per cent over the last three years mainly as a result of regulations requiring the burning of sulphur fuel air The daily dex that the pollution in- city's Depart- ment of Air Resources issues each afternoon which classifies the air on # scale ranging from good to unhealthy does not include the readings on suspended particulates The index therefore has indicated that the air was getting better and better over the last few years Yesterday for example air "quality was reported as good Index Being Reconsidered But publisher reports of rising particulate readings has now led the city to re- consider the validity of the index it reports Perhaps the combination of elements that make up that report will have to be adjusted in the light of what we are finding out now said Jerome Kretchmer the city's Environmental Protection Ad- ministrator as a news con- ference yesterday Fred C. Hart the Acting Commissioner of Air Re- sources said he hoped to be able to expand the index to include such pollutants as nitrogen oxides as well as particulates Dr. Edward C. Ferrand head of the department's Bureau of Technical Services said equipment a lack of accurate equipment had prevented the inclusion of all the relevant pollutants By the end of the year he said he hopes to overcome this problem Asked if the index would have been the same if partic- ulates had been weighed in the readings Dr. Ferrand said Obviously not Mayor Lindsay in cam- paigning in Florida for the Demoratic Demoratic Presidential nom- ination has emphasized strongly what his administra- tion has done to clean up New York City's air telling has The Mayor been telling audiences in Florida that the number of unacceptable or unhealthy days declined by thirds from 1969 to 1971. Thomas B. Morgan the secretary Mayor's press the Mayor would revise said his remarks if a new index indi- cated a different situation According to air resources adoption officials the of a new index is unlikely for at least six months because of delays in getting equipment The city has been concen- trating on reducing sulphur dioxide because Mr. Kretch- mer said in recent times the problem was thought to be sulphur dioxide Now the problem seems to be particu- lates and we'll move to solve that problem now There is concern about particulates because by 1975 the city will be required to meet a Federal air quality standard of not more than 75 micrograms of suspended particulate matter a cubic meter of air The average reading in the city was 98 in 1971 and it rose to 104 in Although officials now recognize the particulate problem they are not sure how to deal with it Dirt in the air is a complex mix of every- thing from asbestos worn off automobile brake linings to soot from a faulty oil burner Commissioner Hart said measures to correct the par- ticulate situation might be as severe as banning the use of oil burner in certain sections of the city Buildings then would be required to use steam piped in for heat Although the city has made a sharp reduction in sulphur dioxide an average of hundredth parts a mil- lion parts of air in 1969 to hundredth parts a million last year Federal standard of hundredths still has not yet been reached City officials are confident however that that standard can be met the 1975 deadline with reduction of fuel sudlatpehdur content now man- Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner Further reproduction prohibited without permission