Acid Deposition From New Air Pollution Sources In The Western United States: Examples Of Modeled Air Quality And Its Impacts On The Bridger And Fitzpatrick Wildernesses

Outputs from industrial activities planned in the Riley Ridge natural gas project are modeled to determine the potential locations of air pollution impacts on the Bridger and Fitzpatrick Wildernesses in Wyoming. The nature of modeling, especially with regard to its realism, is discussed. Alpine lakes which, along with their watersheds, have minimal buffering capacity are being studied because of their sensitivity to acidic deposition from proposed new air pollution sources. A hypothesis which relates a source's emissions to deposition and lake chemistry in a worst-case sense is presented. Research designed to test the hypothesis and reduce uncertainties is outlined and progress reviewed. Focus is placed on the meteorological transport and atmospheric deposition parameterization contained in the hypothesis.