A cadre of concerned residents and politicians wants to clean up Salt Lake County's air problem now, and they're finding that reaching a solution to such a widespread problem is no easy task.

On Thursday, the Salt Lake County Council of Governments Air Quality Subcommittee met for the first time to try to tackle the problem. No solutions were proposed, but many questions were asked.

Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson is confident the subcommittee's work will make a difference in the long run.

"We're all here because we want to see better air here," Wilson said.

Utah's air quality was so bad this winter that residents had to breathe unhealthy air and were asked to limit their driving and wood burning for an all-time high of 28 days, according to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon said the county is currently working on several solutions to reduce air pollution in the valley: downsizing the county fleet, using hybrid vehicles, and using zoning laws to plan new communities where people can live, work and play without driving as much.

"There are a lot of little things, but there's not one magic bullet" to solving the county's air-quality problems, Corroon said.

West Valley City government has tried to reduce its vehicle emissions by cutting down to a four-day work week, City Councilman Russ Brooks said.

Representatives from Utah Mothers for Clean Air told the subcommittee they want to "reduce or, ideally, eliminate" red, or poor quality, air days. On red days, residents are asked to drive as little as possible, and wood burning is prohibited.

"It's a big pie in the sky, but we thought we'd think big," said Cherise Udell, founder of the mothers' group. "I cannot let my children grow up here and not try to do something about it."

Utah and Weber counties saw a record number of "red" or poor air-quality days during the annual Winter Air Quality Alert program, which started in 1992 and runs from Nov. 1 to March 1 every year, according to a report released in March by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

In January, Utah experienced a near record-setting 18 consecutive days of poor air quality, with temperatures below freezing, a condition that can — and did — create inversions. When cold, dense air in a valley is trapped by high pressure and warmer air above, the resulting inversion puts a "lid" on air movement, trapping pollutants that can be harmful to humans.

---

E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com