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<br />002893 <br /> <br />is being coordinated with the U,S, EnvIronmental Protection Agency (Ron Eddy, <br />written commun, , 1975), is an attempt to supply information for use in the <br />U,S. Environmental ProtectIon Agency 208 area waste-treatment management study <br />under the auspices of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments (Gordon <br />Butcher, written commun., 1975). <br /> <br />Air Qua 1 i ty <br /> <br />Due to the present low level of industrial development in the Yampa ba- <br />sin, air-quality problems are currently only minor and localized. With the <br />anticipated growth of energy-related activity in the basin, however, possible <br />increased effects on air quality need to be considered, <br /> <br />Because attentIon in the basin assessment Is focused on future prevaIling <br />levels of air qualIty, rather than day-to-day fluctuations, a steady-state <br />air-dispersion model is appropriate for the analysis. A number of such models <br />are available and mos.t are based on solutions to various forms of the Gaussian <br />plume equation. Specific forms of the plume equation have been expressed for <br />power or gasifIcation plants, highways and roads, and strip mines and reclam- <br />ation areas. <br /> <br />Two steady-state models have recently been developed for northwestern <br />Colorado--one in conjunction with a University of Colorado study by Kreider <br />(1975), and the other by Environmental Resources and Technology, Inc" as part <br />of an environmental impact study of mining activity (U,S, Bureau of Land Man- <br />agement and U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 1976). In applying ex- <br />Isting models to the present study of the Yampa River basin, certain modifica- <br />tions will be necessary. <br /> <br />The regional aIr-quality model will be used to predict dispersion of sev- <br />eral different pollutants generated in primary as well as secondary levels of <br />energy development in the Yampa River basin, These include: <br /> <br />a. Suspended particulates, <br /> <br />b. Sulfur-oxide species (SO), <br />x <br />c. Nitrogen-oxide species (NO ), and <br />x <br /> <br />d. Hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide. <br /> <br />Air-qual ity monitoring Installations are located in the towns of Craig, <br />Hayden, and Steamboat Springs, These should provide data for model verifIca- <br />tion and are included within a state-wide aIr-quality system maintained by the <br />Colorado Department of Health (Wayne May, written commun., 1975). These sta- <br />tions currently monitor suspended partIculates, an air pollutant of special <br />Importance in coal-related activities. <br /> <br />Adaptation and ppplication of a selected air-quality model inItially are <br />assigned to the systems-analysIs group for coordination with the basin assess- <br />ment (see table 2), Alternatively, a reduced air-quality simulation activity <br />will be performed, <br /> <br />23 <br />