PALATKA, Fla. — Alerts and warnings of Unhealthy Air Quality in southern St. Johns and Putnam counties have some residents concerned.
One local woman is on a mission to find out what’s causing high levels of sulfur dioxide in St. Augustine, where she lives.
In late February, Sarah Kunze noticed something on her Apple weather app she hadn’t before: a pollution warning. It said the air quality was unhealthy for sensitive groups, as a result of high levels of sulfur dioxide.
The mom is checking the Air Quality Index (AQI) daily now, noticing it varies from sunup to sundown, from a low of 33, considered “good” but reaching as high as the 140’s sometimes – considered “unhealthy.”
“We’re – right now – having four times the air quality levels of pollutants than pretty much anywhere else in the country,” Kunze said, “which is really concerning too, especially with spring breakers and having tourists, so many people coming into the area. We need to figure out what this is, so that it can be fixed.”
Exposure to sulfur dioxide can irritate the eyes, nose and throat and even have long-term health effects.
Kunze said in conversations with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, they haven’t been able to explain where the pollutant is coming from.
“We’re outside all the time,” Kunze said. “I have parents that are in their 70’s and so, from what I’ve read from the CDC website and also the EPA’s website, sulfur dioxide can cause serious health concerns for children and for elderly people and for people that have asthma.”
Sulfur dioxide emissions are caused by burning fossil fuels. Only one of the five federally-designated major polluters in Palatka emits sulfur: the Seminole Generating Station.
In a statement to First Coast News, a company representative said “Our facility in Putnam county is operating within its permitted limits for sulfur dioxide.”
No matter where it’s coming from, Kunze said she wants to know why the FDEP isn’t trying to warn people who live in affected areas.
“They might be very sensitive to these sulfur dioxide levels,” Kunze said, “and they’re pumping their bodies with allergy medication, which is what the health department told my friend to do when that might not even be the case at all.”
An FDEP representative said they’re working to answer our questions about these concerns. They confirmed to Kunze in an email last week that they’re investigating “multiple facilities in the area to determine the source of the elevated readings.”