All News Releases By Date

Pleasant Hill, Arkansas, Air Monitoring Project

Release Date: 3/18/1998
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

Pleasant Hill is located in far southwest Arkansas, about five miles southeast of Texarkana and about two miles east of the Texas border.

Because of residents' concerns about the area's air quality, the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology (ADPC&E) formed a workgroup in August 1996. The group includes area citizens and representatives of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), area industry, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) and other Arkansas state agencies.

The workgroup identified hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) as the primary air pollutants of concern.

The group decided to scientifically measure the levels of these pollutants over a one- year period and then ask Federal and State health officials if the recorded levels could produce adverse health effects.

Beginning in April 1998, six air monitors sited throughout the Pleasant Hill area will measure H2S and SO2 levels as well as wind directions and velocities.

ADPC&E will operate the monitors, with oversight by EPA.

EPA will provide monthly summaries of the air quality data collected. Final data will be sent to ATSDR and ADH.