Document 5B9yy6VLbNMBo1raKjeB6bZ0

FILE NAME: New York State & NY Times (NY) DATE: 1972 Feb 9 DOC#: NY036 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: NYT Article - City Air Found 7 Percent Dirtier Than in '69 City Air Found 7% D irtier Than in '69 By DAVID BIRD New YorkTimes (1857-Currentfide); Feb 9, 1972; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 -2 pg.20 City A ir F'ound 7% D irtier 'Than in '69 B y DAVID BWD City officials conceded publicly for the first time yesterday that one of the key air pollutants here--sus pended particulate matter, or dirt--had increased 7 per cent over the last three years despite stepped-up con trol efforts. Previously the city had been emphasizing another air pollutant -- sulphur di oxide, an irritating gas--that has been reduced 90 per cent over the last three years, mainly as a result of regula tions requiring the burning of low-sulphur fuel. The dally air-pollution in dex that the city's Depart ment of Air Resources sues each afternoon, which classi fies the air on a scale ranging from "good" to "un healthy," does not include the readings on suspended particulates. The index, therefore, has indicated that the air was A better and better e last few years. Yes terday, for example, 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 Teo'm'cai Services, said a lack of accurate equipment had prevented the inclusion of ail 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 n ot" . Mayor Lindsay, in cam paigning in Florida for the Democ/atic Presidential nom ination, has emphasized strongly what his administra tion has done to clean up Hew York City's air. The Mayor has been telling audiences in Florida that the naiurmber of "unacceptable" or "unhealthy" days declined by two-thirds from 1969 to 1971. Thomas B. Morgan, the Mayor's press secretary, said the Mayor would revise his remarks if a new index indi cated a different situation. According to air resources officials, the adoption 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 titan 75 micrograms of suspended particulate matter a cubic meter of air.' The average reading in the city was 98 in 1969 and k rose to 104 in 1971, Although officials now rec ognize the particulate prob lem, they are not sure how to deal with i t 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--from an average of eighth-hundredth parts a mil lion parts of air in 1969 to four-hundredth parts a mil lion last year--the Federal standard of three-hundredths still has not yet been reached. City officials are confident, however, that that standard can be met by the 1975 dead line with reduction of fuel sulphur content now man dated. Reproduced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.