Authors: Maxine Joselow
Park Service suspends air-quality monitoring at all national parks
The Trump administration has temporarily suspended an air-quality monitoring program at national parks across the country, according to an internal email obtained by The Washington Post and two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the decision is not public.
The Interior Department, which includes the National Park Service, issued stop-work orders last week to the two contractors running the program, the email shows. The move adds to the chaos and uncertainty at many national parks that are already reeling from widespread layoffs ahead of the busy summer season.
The National Park Service and Interior did not initially respond to requests for comment. After this article was published, however, Park Service spokeswoman Rachel Pawlitz said in an email that the stop-work orders would be reversed and that “contractors will be notified immediately.”
The two contractors – Air Resource Specialists and Desert Research Institute – did not return requests for comment.
The program collects data on levels of harmful air pollutants, including ozone and particulate matter, at the 63 national parks in the United States. Federal officials consult this data when deciding whether to grant permits to nearby industrial facilities, such as power plants or oil refineries.
Breathing in these pollutants is linked to a range of adverse health effects. For instance, long- and short-term exposure to particulate matter is associated with heart attacks, strokes, asthma attacks and premature death, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The program also aims to curb regional haze, which forms when sunlight encounters tiny pollution particles in the air. Over the last several decades, regional haze has reduced visibility at scenic viewpoints in parks nationwide.
The State Department in March ended its own air-quality monitoring program, which relied on sensors at more than 80 U.S. embassies and consulates. That program largely operated in countries where such data was otherwise limited or unreliable.
Some Park Service employees had pushed back and urged Trump officials to revoke the stop-work orders sent to the two contractors, according to the email and the two people familiar with the matter.
“We have submitted requests to NPS and DOI management to restore these contracts,” said the email last week from a Park Service staffer. “We are currently waiting for this review.”
Jim Schaberl, who retired last year as division chief for natural and cultural resources at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, said that most states lack the resources to collect this data on their own.
“Each park has all kinds of air-quality monitoring equipment and people on the ground to maintain that equipment,” he said. “It’s really important because most states don’t have big programs to fund that. You know, within Virginia, there are not many places that do the type of air-quality monitoring that goes on at Shenandoah.”
Schaberl added that “to just wipe out all of the scientific data that indicates how air quality is doing in the parks – and in the country in general – is just incredible to hear. This is just a kick in the gut.”
