Air quality related values (AQRVs) for Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN) parks: Effects from ozone; visibility reducing particles; and atmospheric deposition of acids, nutrients and toxics

Sullivan, Timothy

This chapter describes the Air Quality Related Values (AQRVs) of the Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN). AQRVs are those resources sensitive to air quality and include streams, lakes, soils, vegetation, fish and wildlife, and visibility. The SCPN parks that are included in the NPS Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program and discussed in this report are Aztec Ruins National Monument (AZRU), Bandelier National Monument (BAND), Canyon de Chelly National Monument (CACH), Chaco Culture National Historical Park (CHCU), El Malpais National Monument (ELMA), El Morro National Monument (ELMO), Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GLCA), Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA), Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site (HUTR), Mesa Verde National Park (MEVE), Navajo National Monument (NAVA), Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO), Petroglyph National Monument (PETR), Rainbow Bridge National Monument (RABR), Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument (SAPU), Sunset Crater National Monument (SUCR), Walnut Canyon National Monument (WACA), Wupatki National Monument (WUPA), and Yucca House National Monument (YUHO). BAND, GRCA, MEVE, and PEFO are designated as Class I, giving them a heightened level of protection against harm caused by poor air quality under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Sullivan et al. (2011a, 2011b) and Kohut (2007) conducted risk assessments for acidification, eutrophication, and ozone (O3) for the SCPN parks; their results are described in this report. This report also describes regional air pollutant emissions and air quality, and their effects on AQRVs in the SCPN. The primary pollutants likely to affect AQRVs include nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) compounds (nitrate [NO3-], ammonium [NH4+], and sulfate [SO42-]); ground-level O3; haze-causing particles; and airborne toxics. Background for this section can be found in “Air Quality Related Values (AQRVs) in National Parks. Effects from Ozone; Visibility Reducing Particles; and Atmospheric Deposition of Acids, Nutrients and Toxics” (Sullivan 2016). Although the SCPN parks are located in relatively remote areas, they experience air pollutants from regional and local sources, including large power plants, urban areas, agriculture, oil and gas development, and fires. There are few human population centers within the SCPN; only Albuquerque is larger than 100,000 people. Based on EPA’s National Emissions Inventory for 2011, most counties in the vicinity of the SCPN had relatively low levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions (< 5 tons per square mile per year [tons/mi2/yr]). Emissions of oxidized N were generally slightly higher (up to 5 tons/mi2/yr or even higher), and emissions of reduced N were lower (< 2 tons/mi2/yr). Total S deposition at the locations of SCPN parks during the period 2010-2012 was generally less than 2 kg S/ha/yr. Total N deposition was less than 5 kg N/ha/yr at most park locations. The arid conditions that prevail throughout much of the SCPN do not contribute to acid sensitivity, which tends to be enhanced by high precipitation due to the leaching by precipitation of base cations from watershed soils. At the higher elevations within parklands in the SCPN that receive greater amounts of precipitation, which leaches base cations, it is possible that there are some acid-sensitive surface waters. Ecosystem sensitivity to acidification is also influenced by land slope, which often affects the degree of acid neutralization provided by soils and bedrock within the watershed. File size: 4.3 MB

Air quality related values (AQRVs) for Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN) parks: Effects from ozone; visibility reducing particles; and atmospheric deposition of acids, nutrients and toxics

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