Some parts of Indiana that have struggled with pollution are now meeting federal air quality standards. That’s according to three years of data from state and federal environmental agencies. Officials with the Environmental Protection Agency say that’s good news for people with asthma and other lung conditions.
When two coal plants in the Indianapolis area switched to natural gas, that decreased harmful sulfur dioxide in the air. That means the Indianapolis metro now meets all federal air quality standards.
So does the Muncie metro area — largely because Exide Technologies, a battery manufacturing plant, cut its lead emissions in half.
Janet McCabe directs Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute and has previously worked for both the EPA's and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management's air quality branches.
“One thing you can take from it is that you can actually improve air quality in our cities and when you burn less fossil fuels, the air will get better,” she says.
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