Only a handful of people attended the public information session held last night in College Township intended to inform local residents about the air quality in Centre County.

As a result of a new federal air quality standard for ozone, Centre County fell into nonattainment for ozone last July, which means ozone levels are higher than permitted. The status requires the county to conduct an air quality conformity analysis report, the results of which were relayed to the people in attendance last night.

One major concern raised at the meeting was about the potential for increased truck traffic along Interstate 80 if a landfill is developed just north of the interstate in Snow Shoe and Rush townships.

"I'm trying to learn," said Ed Walsh, an associate professor emeritus of sociology. "I'm looking for every button we can push to stop the landfill completely."

Walsh, whose main goal is to prevent the landfill, said he planned to go to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to further his knowledge on the subject.

Dan Szekeres, the consultant working on the project, said the weather could have more of an impact on ozone levels than increased truck traffic.

"It's the hot summer versus the cold summer," he said, adding the hotter the weather, the more ozone that forms.

Trish Meek, Centre Regional Planning Agency transportation planner, said the Centre County Metropolitan Planning Organization must prove that the short-term and long-term transportation projects planned for the area would keep air quality at 2002 standards, according to the conformity analysis.

The county has a June 15 deadline to have the air quality plan of action approved; otherwise, the county would not be eligible for federal funding for future transportation projects.

Szekeres said that although the county needs to meet the air quality requirements by 2009, it will still be labeled a "maintenance area," which means it needs to maintain the standard for the next 20 years. He added all future projects related to transportation would be evaluated for their impact on the air quality.

Szekeres said the new federal standards were in response to information gathered through studies that showed exposure to low levels of ozone over longer periods of time was just as health hazardous as an exposure to a high level in a shorter period of time.

He said the conformity involves conducting modeling exercises that would incorporate all possible planned transportation construction projects as well as compensating for improvements in automobile and gas technology.

"Vehicle technology is the best thing to drive what happens in terms of vehicle emissions," Szekeres said.

College Township council member Dan Klees said that even though elected officials have known about the drop into nonattainment status since July, it was beneficial to hear the consultant's report.

"Until something's right in front of you, sometimes it's hard to process," he said. "It doesn't sound like this isn't something we can't work with."

Klees said he thought Walsh's questions about the landfill and possible increased truck traffic were valid points. He added that the conformity requirements could be positive. "As we move forward, it's one more criteria that has to be met," he said. "If a project raises a red flag, then it's probably something we should take a look at."

The deadline for public comments and questions about the analysis is April 25.