8/27/08 Bend
 
By Doug Johnson
 
Until now, little is known about how much pollution and low level Ozone is in the air above Central Oregon. So law makers in Salem set to change that.
 
 
"About a year ago the legislature mandated increasing the air monitoring effort by D-E-Q," says Mark Hansen with the Department of Environmental Quality.
 
 
Since then, the Department of Enviromental Quality built a station, near Deschutes County's Public Works Building. This month it started to measure low level Ozone and pollution levels. The station was placed in south east Bend, to be down wind from the center of town to get an accurate exposure reading. It will also be measuring wind speeds, direction and temperatures as they relate to pollutant transport. The highest levels of smog and low level Ozone are anticipated during the summer. Low level Ozone, a main ingredient of smog, is formed when sunlight heats other pollutants, such as car exhaust. At high levels it can harm lung function and irritate the respiratory system. But many, like Pulmonologist Eric Dildine, don't believe low level Ozone levels will be high in Bend.
 
 
"There's not a lot of factory business here, the mills have shut down, there's not a considerable amount of smoke pilling into our atomsphere in this area," says Dr. Eric Dildine.
 
 
The DEQ says it may not find dangerous levels of Ozone, but the station will give it a better idea of air quality in Central Oregon.
 
 
"We don't necessarily anticipate a problem, but we have a public duty to find out what's in the air and what the people are breathing," Hansen says.
 
To view the findings of the Bend Ozone and smog monitor station go to:
 
http://www.deq.state.or.us/aqi/index.aspx