Rapid Screen Emissions Testing Begins In Northern Colorado

Operators began collecting emissions data from passing vehicles entering Interstate 25 at Harmony Road in Fort Collins and County Road 54 in Loveland.

They are a harbinger of what’s to come for many residents in parts of Larimer and Weld counties.

In November, the state will open up four new emissions testing centers.

Residents in and around Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland and Dacono-Firestone will then have to pay $25 to have their automobiles tested before they can renew their license plates.

The program is designed to cut back on ozone pollution along the Front Range, but it has its detractors.

“It’s just a way of getting more money,” said Greeley resident Betty Martinez. “Most cars already have the efficient stuff in them so they don’t pollute.”

“This is a way for the Department of Health to come to northern Colorado and get our clean air to offset the dirtier air in metro Denver,” said Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway.

Conway told 7NEWS that Weld County has already addressed its ozone issue.

“We worked with the oil and gas industry to substantially reduce ozone. We believe we are in compliance,” Conway said. “Denver needs to factor in our cleaner air to reduce its overall pollution level.”

But a health department spokesman said Weld County has more pollution than Douglas County and that Douglas County has been in the program since 1995.

“Air pollution doesn’t recognize a line drawn on the map. We are all part of the same air shed,” the spokesman said.

Conway said the commissioners had originally planned to sue the state to try to stop the emissions testing program, but decided against it on the advice of the county attorney.

“He told us we probably wouldn’t win a lawsuit,” Conway said. “So we’re going to wait until next year, when we have a new governor and new lawmakers and we’re going to try to change the law.”

Some residents welcome the testing program.

“I have little kids,” Jami Wulf told 7NEWS. “I want clean air from now always.”

Wulf said she’d be willing to pay $25 to make sure her van was running clean.

Gene Webb had a different take.

“I’m not one of those fanatics,” Webb said. “I can see both points, but if you have a smoker (polluting car) is the owner really going to get it taken care of?”

Webb said the state should come up with a plan to target just the dirty cars, not the newer ones, which routinely pass inspection, but still cost the owners $25 every time they’re tested.

Last April, Paul Tourangeau, director of the state Health Department’s Air Pollution Control Division told 7NEWS that the emissions testing program is helping to remove an estimated 16 tons of pollutants from the air daily.