FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 31, 2006
SmartRide commuter service offer can help reduce ground-level ozone
COLUMBIA – With high temperatures expected as the state copes with ozone season, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control urges people to do their part to improve air quality in the Midlands by using the SmartRide commuter service.
From Aug. 1 through Sept. 30, DHEC, the South Carolina Energy Office, S.C. Department of Transportation, Central Midlands Regional Transit Authority, The Newberry Council on Aging and the Santee Wateree Regional Transit Authority will provide free SmartRide commuter service on Ground Level Ozone Action Days.
“SmartRide provides an excellent opportunity for citizens to help reduce emissions from vehicles by using this commuter service,” according to Myra Reece, chief of DHEC’s Bureau of Air Quality. “We hope everyonewill take advantage of this opportunity and fill the buses up.”
Reece said any effort to reduce the number of vehicles on the road means a reduction in emissions that contribute to forming ground-level ozone. This type of ozone can be an irritant to the respiratory system of children, adults who work and exercise outdoors and for people with respiratory diseases like asthma.
Reece said other ways to limit the formation of ground level ozone include car-pooling, staying in for lunch, filling up with gas after 6 p.m. and avoiding excessive vehicle idling.
DHEC provides a daily forecasting for ground-level ozone at www.scdhec.gov/ozone or accessed via a toll-free number, 1-866-238-4973, and in the Columbia area at 898-4094. Information regarding the SmartRide commuter services may be accessed at: www.scdot.org/getting/smartride/smartride.shtml.
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For more information:
Jack Porter – (803) 898-3829
E-mail – porter@dhec.sc.gov
Thom Berry (803) 898-3885
E-mail - berrytw@dhec.sc.gov
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