BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - After years of work at the state and local level, the Baton Rouge area is meeting a federal standard for ozone pollution.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension, Iberville and Livingston parishes meet the standard. The determination was made after a review of air monitoring information from 2011-2013.
Louisiana environmental officials say the state is working on a plan to show how the five-parish area can maintain compliance with the ozone standard for the next 10 years.
Ozone pollution is the result of a chemical reaction when nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons from industry, car exhaust and other sources combine in the air during hot and sunny days. It can cause breathing trouble and other health problems.
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