OPINION

PM2.5 regulatory average of 35 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) was exceeded in real time about 14,820 times over the past six months, which includes two months when production at the refinery was shut down to repair equipment failures that injured two workers.

The highest swing above the 24-hour regulatory threshold was a single spike of 1700 ug/m3. Many peak readings were in the 200 to 600 ug/m3 range. We at Cultivando think this is significant health information requiring intervention. If the pollution had been stones rather than microscopic particles invading the lungs, residents would have been pelted to death had they dared to venture outside.

There is also an annual regulatory average for PM 2.5. The newly proposed federal annual standard is 9 to 10 ug/m3. Our averaged data of high and low emissions exceeds this threshold. If the World Health Organization’s more stringent threshold of 5 ug/m3 were applied, the regulatory average would be exceeded twice over. As alarming as these revelations are, they don’t fully expose the enduring assault on these residents’ lives, for most of the people in these neighborhoods don’t live there for a minute, or a day, or even a year. Many live there for their entire lives, with their children deprived of choice altogether. Therein lies the rub.

But it gets worse. The poisonous chemical cocktail the people are forced to inhale includes benzene, with a .9 ppb health threshold exceeded 316 times; hydrogen sulfide, with a 8 ppb threshold exceeded 3,895 times; hydrogen cyanide, with a 2.7 ppb threshold exceeded 24 times; and nitrous oxides, with a 53 ppb threshold exceeded a whopping 65,203 times over the sixmonth period. Radioactive particulates, the measurements of which are a national first, also exceeded the health threshold of 1 pc/L 18 times.

The Air Pollution Control Division (APCD) complains that continuous monitoring is akin to “snapshots” that blind us “to the larger picture.” Actually, what we’ve done is develop a more refined and data-intensive program that allows us to tell people in real time when their air quality is dangerous. Averaging disguises and dampens the actual highs. Perhaps more importantly, treating each chemical as a standalone, as the state does, avoids recognizing the synergy that is known to take place when these chemicals become mixed in the air. The science suggests their combined toxicity can be increased by 3 to 20 times.

Our approach recognizes not only the regulatory standards set by the Clean Air Act, but the requirements of Colorado’s SB19-181, which says that as a condition for oil and gas development in this state, the public and the environment must be protected. The APCD has ignored this statutory standard.

If it’s true that the greatness of a state is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable, then we have mountains to move. Moreover, it’s well past time the greed heads, nature’s freeloaders, and their smug political enablers responsible for this calamity were required to participate. Thousands of lives depend on it.

Olga Gonzalez is the executive director of Cultivando. Phillip Doe is on the advisory board.

Editor’s note: The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment found higher-than-normal levels of sulfur dioxide in the area surrounding the Suncor refinery in Commerce City on the morning of April 12. The standard for sulfur dioxide is 75 parts per billion per hour. Cultivando’s air monitors recorded two short-term spikes, one at 155 ppb and another at 186 ppb. To learn more about the Suncor Settlement Community Process, visit bit.lySuncorSettlementCommunityProcess.)

This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.

Stop Dynamic Ticket Pricing

When Taylor Swift tickets went on sale last November, the experience highlighted problems in event ticketing.

Colorado has the chance to bring transparency to event ticketing by requiring ticket holdback disclosure and bot reporting via Senate Bill 60.

It’s time for event ticketers to be transparent with fans about the number of tickets for sale. When I tried to buy tickets for a Skrillex Red Rocks show, I was offered premium dynamically priced tickets between $475 and $800 each.

If event ticketers don’t want to be transparent about holdbacks and report bots, lawmakers should look at ending exclusive contracts on publicly owned and financed buildings and stopping dynamic pricing.

— Arthur Lewis/Denver

COLORADANS IMPACTED BY ALZHEIMER’S AND DEMENTIA

76,000 Coloradans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and that number is expected to rise by 21% in the next few years. As a Coloradan whose parents were both diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I know firsthand how devastating the disease can be. I look to our Members of Congress to support important legislation that will make a difference for families like mine.

Congress is considering reauthorizing two laws that have helped our nation make progress in research, care and awareness about Alzheimer’s disease – the National Alzheimer’s Plan Act and the Alzheimer’s Accountability Act. These important laws have helped researchers and providers understand the disease and the needs of the families struggling with it. Additionally, the Comprehensive Care for Alzheimer’s Act would streamline the ever-changing healthcare maze that Alzheimer’s families must navigate to get care for their loved one. Coordinating the delivery of Alzheimer’s care can reduce costs while providing improved quality of care.

Thank you to Sen. Michael Bennet for his quick work in cosponsoring these bills and joining the Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease.

— Tim Jordan/Denver