Better Air Reduces Need For Oxygenated Gasoline

Fri., Aug. 21, 1998

By Karen Dorn Steele karend@spokesman.com

Oxygenated gasoline will be required for a shorter period starting this fall at local gas stations because of successful efforts to reduce carbon monoxide in Spokane’s air.

The oxygenated gas season will shrink by one month and will run from Oct. 1 through Feb. 29, the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority announced this week.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the shorter oxygenated gas season, said SCAPCA director Eric Skelton.

Since 1992, Spokane County gasoline stations have been required to sell only oxygenated gas beginning Sept. 1 and continuing through the winter.

SCAPCA requested a shorter season based on data showing that for the past seven years, carbon monoxide levels have remained below the federal air quality standard in September.

The use of oxygenated gasoline during the fall and winter reduces tailpipe carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 25 percent, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.

Times that Spokane has exceeded the federal carbon monoxide standard dropped from eight in 1992 to zero in 1997. There has been none so far this year.

However, Spokane is still on the EPA’s short list of the nation’s major carbon monoxide violators. The earliest the city could be dropped from the list is 1999, and that would require getting through the rest of this year with no carbon monoxide violations, Skelton said.

In addition to the oxygenated gas program, SCAPCA also is working with state officials on a long-term clean air maintenance plan.

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