212 CHAPTER 8 Air and Air Pollution050100150200250Particulate matter (parts per million)Year1969 1971 1973 1975 1977 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989Based on data from Chattanooga Air Pollution Bureau (1999).A History of Air Pollution Control in Chattanooga and Hamilton County.Emory Kristof/NG Image Collection
to recycle its solid waste rather than build an emissions-
producing incinerator.
In 1984 the EPA declared Chattanooga in attainment for
particulate matter; this designation meant particulate levels
had been below the federal health limit for one year. The city
reached attainment status for ozone in 1989. Since then, the
city’s levels for all seven EPA-regulated air pollutants have been
lower than federal standards require.
In the early 2000s, Chattanoogans continued to move their
city toward sustainability. The city plans to convert a run-down
business district into a community in which people live near their
places of work. Businesses located in this district will form an
industrial ecosystem in which the wastes of one business are
raw materials for another business.Curbing Air Pollution
in Chattanooga
During the 1960s, the federal government gave Chattanooga,
Tennessee, the dubious distinction of having the worst air
pollution in the United States. The air was so dirty in this
manufacturing city that sometimes people driving downtown
had to turn on their headlights in the middle of the day. The
orange air soiled their white shirts so quickly that many
businesspeople brought extra ones to work. To compound the
problem, the mountains surrounding the city kept the pollutants
produced by its inhabitants from dispersing.
Today the air in this scenic midsized city of 200,000
people is clean, and Chattanooga ranks high among U.S. cities
in terms of air quality (see photograph). City and business
leaders are credited with transforming Chattanooga’s air.
Soon after the passage of the federal Clean Air Act of 1970,
the city established an air pollution control board to enforce
regulations controlling air pollution. New local regulations
allowed open burning by permit only, placed limits on industrial
odors and particulate matter, outlawed visible automotive
emissions, and set a cap on sulfur content in fuel, which
controlled the production of sulfur oxides. Businesses installed
expensive air pollution-control devices. The city started an
emissions-free electric bus system. Chattanooga also decidedChattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga’s air quality has improved dramatically during
the past several decades.CASE STUDY
Particulate matter in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1969 to- Over a twenty year period, effective air pollution
control measures reduced the concentration of particulate
matter in Chattanooga’s air by more than a factor of four.
✓✓THE PLANNER