EPA OKs Tulsa ozone plan

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Apr 9, 2008

The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a new air quality plan for the Tulsa area.

The plan was approved under the EPA's 8-hour Ozone Flex program in collaboration with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.

The program allows communities meeting the national standard for ozone to implement proactive, voluntary measures that will reduce emissions of ozone-causing pollutants to improve air quality and stay within federal requirements.

Tulsa's agreement will involve implementing five projects over the next year, including a Metropolitan Tulsa Transit Authority Clean Diesel Retrofit Project. The clean diesel project will retrofit 26 buses and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by about 4.5 tons per year.

In addition to the clean diesel project, Terra Nitrogen, a manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizer products northeast of Tulsa, will voluntarily install ultra-low nitrogen oxide burners on one of its ammonia reformers. The $2 million project is planned for 2009.