Olsen on air quality

LOGAN – Cache County’s new emissions testing requirements went into effect at the start of the new year and Bear River Health Department Officials, who are implementing the program, say it is ready to go.

For a long time, Cache County’s elected officials and others fought the mandatory program, but Logan City Council Member Herm Olsen always thought it was a good idea.

On KVNU’s Crosstalk program last week, Olsen said it probably won’t help much, but he says anything we can do to improve the air quality is important because the problem is huge.  

“We can ignore it, we can cuss it, we can pretend it doesn’t exist but from a health standpoint, our children, our grandchildren, the elderly, those with asthma, they are at immediate risk every time we have a yellow air day and a red air day,” he said. “Sometimes I think we believe that if it isn’t a red air day we’re okay. This is not so.”   

He said many experts have confirmed that multiple accumulative yellow air days are just as dangerous.

Olsen is chairman of a recently-appointed local air quality committee which includes many experts from the community and Utah State University. 

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