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SNOWMOBILE EMISSIONS Air pollution still a problem in Yellowstone By JOE KOLMAN Gazette Bozeman Bureau WEST YELLOWSTONE - Despite the use of cleaner burning fuel in snowmobiles in and around Yellowstone National Park the last two winters, near-dangerous levels of some emissions were still recorded. Department of Environmental Quality monitors at West Yellowstone last winter twice recorded carbon monoxide levels that were very close to exceeding regulatory standards, said Elton Erp, the supervisor for air monitoring. There may have been higher levels than the two documented, Erp said, but he conceded that equipment was not always working properly, and there were other problems with data collection. "We're talking carbon monoxide poisoning, pure and simple," Erp said, adding that symptoms include headaches, nausea and blue fingernails. "You keep it up long enough, you fall over dead." Howard Haines of the DEQ said the standards measure exposure over eight hours. Suspicions of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide have been floating around for years. In response to employee health complaints in 1994, the National Park Service conducted tests around the West Yellowstone entrance and, finding high levels of pollution, started an express line to reduce the time vehicles had to wait in line, said Mary Hektner, a resource management specialist. State and park officials say that the recent test results are validations of what some have long suspected: snowmobile emissions can be dangerous. The use of cleaner burning fuels have helped. For example, one set of tests reveal that carbon monoxide levels at West Yellowstone, Old Faithful and the south entrance were reduced between 3 percent and 11 percent, Haines said. When the park opened for the 1997 winter season, gas stations and snowmobile renters in West Yellowstone voluntarily agreed to provide gasohol and promote its use. Tests had shown that the use of the fuel and biodegradable synthetic oil in the two stroke engines common to snow machines reduced pollution. A study conducted during the 1997/98 winter season for DEQ concluded that moderate emission reductions were observed using alternative fuel and lubricants. Less haze was observed at the West Yellowstone entrance. But significant amounts of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter were still present. That study, which cost $564,000 and was funded by state and federal agencies along with members of the snowmobile industry, also showed that more significant emission reductions would likely be found with the development of cleaner burning snow machines. Haines said there is still a long way to go in reducing emissions, but he added that the test results are having an effect. "This work has been changing the snowmobile industry," Haines said. But the industry may not change fast enough to please some. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to propose emission standards for snowmobiles that would likely force manufacturers to come up with cleaner burning engines. And environmentalists are calling for the machines to be banned from national parks altogether, contending that they harm wildlife, ruin air and water quality and destroy solitude. Emission studies will continue. Last fall's DEQ report said more than $800,000 worth of studies are planned or under way, and earlier this week, the park service announced that it would expand its study of snowmobile use in the park system.
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