Celebrating Air Quality Week 2018 … with a nod to the economy

By Ruth Albright, P.E. (Posted April 27, 2018):

By all accounts, concentrations of monitored contaminants have declined in spite of increases in vehicle miles, population growth, and economic growth.

Sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe
And to love you.
— 1972, Albert Hammond

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has designated the week of April 30 to May 4 as Air Quality Week, and in 2018, we have a lot to celebrate. In the United States, the air quality has improved significantly since the early 1970s when the song first hit the pop charts. The song, of course, was about love rather than air quality, but it seems like a good starting point to talk about air quality now.

Since the mid-1970s, state and federal agencies have been operating air quality monitoring stations throughout the United States to measure the concentrations of various air contaminants.^A Those air quality monitoring stations operate throughout the year and have operated, at some stations, for many years. By all measures (including the US EPA statistics in the accompanying graph), the concentrations of monitored contaminants have declined significantly year-over-year in spite of increases in vehicle miles traveled, population growth, and economic growth.

Economic growth is measured at a high level by a country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is a measure of goods and services produced and sold. The United States GDP has grown about 400 percent from 1970 to 2018, and consumer buying power is estimated to be about 20 percent more, in constant dollars.^B The current political climate is about deregulation writ large; to hear some folks talk, regulations are killing American business. GDP growth seems to me to be evidence that the regulatory climate over the past 50 years has not killed the economy.

This year, let’s celebrate Air Quality Week by acknowledging that air quality in the United States has improved and our economy is strong. We must continue to look for ways to improve the balance between the public policy goals of protecting the environment and those of strengthening the economy.

^A https://www.epa.gov/air-trends
^B https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-constant-prices

Kathy Webb, P.G.

Senior Market Leader | Principal

Kathy Webb, who co-founded SynTerra (then known as The Fletcher Group) in 1992, has completed remedial investigations and regulatory compliance projects associated with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) facilities, state and federal Superfund sites, solid waste landfills, brownfield redevelopment, utility coal combustion residual (CCR) management units, and regulated industrial facilities. She has supported litigation as an expert witness related to chlorinated solvents, metals, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Kathy is known for her practical assessment strategy with the perspective of the client’s business objectives. She routinely evaluates groundwater corrective action systems for effectiveness and progress toward achieving compliance objectives. She has co-authored a trade journal paper with case studies of low-impact remedial strategies. Kathy is a licensed Professional Geologist in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Mark Taylor, P.G.

Principal

Mark has worked more than 40 years in natural-resource based industries. His expertise includes mine geology and mine engineering, hydrogeologic and geotechnical investigations, solid and hazardous waste management, and regulatory negotiations. He has published peer-reviewed papers about coal geology, ore geochemistry, mineralogy, and solid waste management. He is a leading expert in mining and environmental permitting for litigation support.

Mark is licensed as a Professional Geologist in South Carolina, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Washington. He serves on the boards of the Upstate Red Cross and Upstate Forever. He served on the South Carolina Board of Registration for Geologists for six years. Mark holds a Master’s degree in Geological Sciences from The University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Science from Harvard University.

Andrea Kehn, P.E.

Vice President of Engineering | Principal

Andrea Kehn, leader of our Civil & Environmental Engineering Business Unit, has 28 years of experience in chemical manufacturing and environmental consulting. She leads and supervises staff professionals on multidisciplinary projects for a variety of industrial clients. Andrea’s vast experience and expertise includes: air quality construction and operating permitting; air quality modeling; air permit record-keeping and reporting; Oil Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) and Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP); NPDES permitting; water quality modeling; process safety management; risk management compliance and auditing; and RCRA compliance.

Andrea is registered as a Professional Engineer in South Carolina. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Michigan Technological University.

Ruth Albright, P.E.

Vice President | Principal

Ruth has led projects for major industrial facilities throughout the Southeast and beyond. She built her knowledge of environmental regulations and their application to manufacturing operations while working for the second largest chemical manufacturing company in the United States. At SynTerra, she has expanded both her knowledge and reputation working for chemical manufacturing operations of all sizes. She has also worked extensively with other manufacturing operations, including pulp and paper, industrial equipment, pharmaceuticals, food, and automotive parts and assembly. Her experience includes air and wastewater permit compliance, solid and hazardous waste management, solid waste construction permitting, hazardous materials transportation, wastewater treatment systems, air pollution control equipment operations and maintenance, and ambient air monitoring systems.

Ruth is a professional engineer registered in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Michigan, Arkansas, and Kentucky. She is an active member of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Environmental Technical Committee and serves as the chair of the water subcommittee. She has previously served as the program and committee chair for the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce Environmental Affairs committee. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Clemson University.