Go ahead, Lawrence residents, take a deep breath.

But if you’re traveling to Kansas City — well, you might want to hold that breath.

A new report from United States Public Interest Research Group, a national environmental group, shows Lawrence air is among the cleanest found in 82 small metropolitan areas in the United States; the same report shows Kansas City with some of the dirtiest air in the country.

“I’m pleased with Lawrence, overall, especially since you have a coal-fired power plant north of town,” said Bill Griffith of the Kansas Sierra Club.

He added: “The rating is more a comment on the prevailing winds rather than a comment on the lack of congestion in Lawrence.”

The state of Kansas also received good marks in the report from “Clear the Air,” which based its rankings on data from state and federal environmental agencies. Kansas ranked 33rd — with first being the worst — in the number of ozone-level violations in 2003.

The state will have a long way to go before reaching first place. California had 2,298 violations of the ozone standard; Kansas had just 11.

“That’s good news,” said Laura Zahn, an Iowa-based field organizer for the research group. “It’s one of the few times Kansas can look at an environmental story in a positive light.”

Rules enough?

Anna Palos, Lawrence, enjoys the outdoors while waiting downtown for her boyfriend. A new report from a national environmental group shows that Lawrence has some of the cleanest air among small metropolitan areas in the United States; the same report shows Kansas City with some of the worst air. Kansas ranked 33rd among the 50 states, with No. 1 being worst.

The report showed half of all Americans live in counties where air pollution exceeds national health standards, though air quality has improved in the past three decades. Zahn said the data showed the Bush administration should tighten air-quality standards.

“If we can clean up the air even more, I don’t understand why we wouldn’t be doing it,” she said.

But officials with Westar Energy, which operates coal-fired power plants across Kansas — including the Lawrence Energy Center north of the city — say the report shows Kansas industries shouldn’t face the same restrictions used to clamp down on heavy air pollution on the coasts.

Bill Eastman, director of environmental services for Westar, said the company had installed “scrubbers” and other pollution-control devices at its plants, often ahead of federal requirements.

“We’ve always contended that Kansas, we just do not have the air problems because of the things we’ve done in the past, the nature of the way we do business,” Eastman said. “We need to be treated according to the way the environment is, and it is cleaner.”

Avoiding regulation

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has long clamped down on the Kansas City metropolitan area with a list of regulations and duties to clean up the air there. Lawrence and Douglas County officials in recent years have resisted efforts to be included in Kansas City’s so-called “attainment area”; Douglas County has a standing committee to address air-quality issues.

6News video: Lawrence air among cleanest (09-23-04)

“We’re in a pretty good situation in that we’re being proactive as a county,” said Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Director Linda Finger, a member of the committee.

She added: “Being under those sanctions would mean additional costs to taxpayers, in terms of the gas we have to use, the regulations we would be under.”

But Lawrence air isn’t perfect. The “Clear the Air” report showed the city, in 2003, had two “smog days” and two days during which ozone levels exceeded federal standards.

And as the Kansas City-Lawrence-Topeka corridor becomes more populated, air pollution may worsen.

“There’s always reason for concern when it comes to air quality, just because of the way pollutants travel,” Zahn said. “It’s really something that you can’t escape.”