Utah Air Quality

According to Forbes Utah air quality was the third most toxic in 2016 just under Nevada and Alaska releasing 273,000,000 pounds of toxic chemicals in the air. The highest concentrations are in Salt Lake County, Bingham Canyon, and Magna.

The Utah Department of Environmental Quality inventories state industries each year pertaining to the substances they release in the air. Each industry is required to pay a fee for every ton of harmful particles or chemicals they release in a year. The data we looked at on the DEQ website is from 2014. That is the most recent information released. Although companies report yearly, the DEQ takes time to verify the data before releasing it to the public.

The report measures 6 sources of toxins: carbon monoxide (CO), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx), Particulate Matter PM10 and PM2.5, Sulphur Oxides (SOx), and volatile organic compounds (VOC)

2014’s worst polluters along the Wasatch Front

(all numbers are tons per year)

Davis County:

Big West Oil LLC – Big West Oil Refinery
CO – 119.76
NOx – 92.31
PM10 – 75.61
PM2.5 – 45.92
SOx – 57.14
VOC – 307.37

Chevron Products Co Salt Lake Refinery
CO – 837.37
NOx – 375.60
PM10 – 43.21
PM2.5 – 36.04
SOx – 23.89
VOC – 298.10

Holly Corp. HRMC and HEP Woods Cross Operations
CO – 254.23
NOx – 170.39
PM10 – 12.83
PM2.5 – 12.80
SOx – 102.33
VOC – 159.58

Salt Lake County

Delta Air Lines Inc. Delta Airlines at SLC International Airport
CO – 227.27
NOx – 50.25
PM10 – 7.69
PM2.5 – 7.69
SOx – 4.08
VOC – 17.49

Kennecott Utah Copper LLC Mine & Copperton Concentrator
CO – 1243.22
NOx – 4199.63
PM10 – 1032.91
PM2.5 – 273.38
SOx – 1.99
VOC – 213.70

Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company LLC
CO – 277.00
NOx – 358.10
PM10 – 140.30
PM2.5 – 89.10
SOx – 708.30
VOC – 242.70

Trans-Jordan Cities – Trans-Jordan Landfill
CO – 205.41
NOx – 44.59
PM10 – 56.82
PM2.5 – 11.96
SOx – 2.2
VOC – 17.40

Tooele County

US Magnesium LLC – Rowley Plant
CO – 305.78
NOx – 1052.09
PM10 – 1054.19
PM2.5 – 769.34
SOx – 17.93
VOC – 639.31

Utah County

PacifiCorp Energy – Lake Side Power Plant
CO – 203.10
NOx – 238.56
PM10 – 62.84
PM2.5 – 56.49
SOx – 10.23
VOC – 37.32

Weber County

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC – Zirconium Halfnium Production Plant
CO – 745.15
NOx – 21.55
PM10 – 7.97
PM2.5 – 7.92
SOx – .54
VOC – 2.92