Government and civic leaders in southeast Missouri believe reducing ozone levels is largely out of their control because the pollutions drifts in from hundreds of miles away.
A committee of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission met Friday in Perryville to review data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The committee is fighting to keep the region from being designated a "nonattainment area," with pollution readings that routinely exceed EPA standards.
Leaders fear that if that happens, emission standards will become stricter, potentially creating a burden for industry and hampering economic development.
The Southeast Missourian reports that an air analysis showed that pollution in the Perryville area originated from Minnesota, passed over Chicago and coal-fired power plants along the Ohio River before blowing into southeast Missouri.
