Air quality issues topic of Utah Supreme Court hearing

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Environmental advocates will try to persuade the Utah Supreme Court Wednesday that the state's approval of an oil refinery expansion would add to air quality woes in northern Utah, parts of which suffer from some of the nation's worst air in winter.

[...] the coalition — which includes Western Resource Advocates, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment and the Sierra Club in Utah — argue that the state should require stricter emissions controls.

The particles emitted from refineries and other pollution penetrate people's bodies, making it difficult to for the lungs to work and causing a host of health problems, said Joro Walker, senior attorney for Western Resource Advocates in Utah.

Because of those unsafe pollutions levels, Utah is in line to get downgraded next year to a more serious air quality designation by the Environmental Protection Agency, which would mean the state will need to come up with another set of even stricter regulations, Walker said.