I met Greg Lyssy in Slidell, LA at the St. Tammany Parrish Oil Spill Community Forum. Mr. Lyssy is an Environmental Engineer and Senior Project Manager for the EPA in Region 6. He was in New Orleans to help monitor the air quality of the gulf oil spill crisis.

“We monitor, monitor, monitor,” Greg stated. “At this time, there are no worries.”

According to a statement on EPA’s website:
EPA’s air monitoring conducted through June 2, 2010, has found that air quality levels for ozone and particulates are normal on the Gulf coastline for this time of year.

EPA has observed odor-causing pollutants associated with petroleum products along the coastline at low levels. Some of these chemicals may cause short-lived effects like headache, eye, nose and throat irritation, or nausea. People may be able to smell some of these chemicals at levels well below those that would cause short-term health problems.

You can learn more about air quality monitoring and see all the technical charts, graphs, and jargon by visiting EPA’s website.