VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #8658/01 3602132
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 262132Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0637
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7958
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 9705
RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 5741
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 1011
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 6445

UNCLAS BOGOTA 008658 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
OES/PCI FOR LSPERLING; WHA/EPCS FOR FCORNEILLE; EPA FOR 
HILL-MACON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ELTN EPET SENV SOCI ENRG CO
SUBJECT: BOGOTA AIR QUALITY AMONG WORST IN LATIN AMERICA 
 
REF: BOGOTA 8092 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Bogota's seven million plus inhabitants breathe 
some of the worst air in the region.  Air quality falls below 
safe levels over 95 percent of the time.  Low-quality fuel, 
poor driving practices, and urban deforestation are largely 
to blame.  GOC officials expect an agreement to improve 
diesel fuel, new emissions standards and a forthcoming air 
quality plan to improve life for Bogota's citizens.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
More Bad Air Days 
----------------- 
 
¶2.  A study released in November found that Bogota's air 
quality ranks third worst of all Latin American capitals, 
ahead of only Mexico City and Santiago.  The author of the 
study, Professor Javier Burgos of Bogota's National 
University, has studied Bogota's air for over seven years and 
said it is steadily worsening.  He told us only Bogota's 
frequent strong winds prevent it from having the worst air 
quality of all Latin American capitals. 
 
¶3.  Burgos identified Bogota's 20,000 diesel buses as the 
main culprit.  He noted that during a recent bus strike air 
quality improved by over 50 percent within days.  Burgos said 
poor fuel contributed to the problem:  buses use low quality 
diesel which generates clouds of particulate laden exhaust. 
In addition, when diesel buses drive erratically, with sudden 
stops and starts, they produce far more exhaust.  Bad roads 
(over half of Bogota's roads are significantly damaged) and 
policies which encourage drivers to stop for every potential 
passenger (drivers' salaries depend on the number of 
passengers) greatly increase bus exhaust. 
 
Safe to Breathe Only 16 Days a Year 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Burgos said anything above 150 micrograms of particulates 
per cubic meter (PM10) per day is considered unsafe for human 
health under international standards.  In 2006 Bogota's air 
quality averaged 154 PM10 per day and met acceptable levels 
for human health only 16 days during the entire year.  In 
some parts of the city particulate levels often went as high 
as 230 PM10. Burgos estimates that every 10 microgram rise in 
the PM10 level leads to a four percent rise in the number of 
respiratory problems.  Respiratory ailments are currently the 
number one health problem in Bogota, with about 15 percent of 
the children in Bogota's hospitals there due to respiratory 
problems caused by poor air quality.  Burgos is currently 
working on a study that on the relationship between Bogota's 
air pollution worker absenteeism. 
 
¶5.  In 1998 Bogota instituted the "Pico y Placa" program to 
restrict the number of cars driving within city limits during 
peak commute hours.  The system operates on a rotating daily 
cycle based on the last digit of license plates.  The city's 
Transit Office credits Pico y Placa with removing 200,000 
cars per day (out of 1 million total) from Bogota's streets. 
In September of 2006 the city expanded the program to cover 
public buses.  Still, Burgos said the program has not 
significantly improved air quality because bus companies 
either ignore the law or circumvent it by switching plates. 
 
Urban Deforestation Exacerbates Problem 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Studies have shown that trees help keep air clean by 
absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. The World 
Health Organization recommends cities maintain at least one 
tree per every three urban residents.  Bogota Botanical 
Gardens official Manuel Jose Amaya told us that a recent tree 
survey showed that Bogota has only one tree for every seven 
residents and almost one third may need to be cut down 
because of old age or disease. 
 
A Breath of Fresh Air on the Way 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7. In 2006 the Ministry of the Environment, Housing and 
Territorial Development (MinEnv) produced a resolution with 
Colombia's first particulate emissions standards.  The 
resolution limits particulates to a maximum of 150 PM10 per 
day throughout the country.  Helver Reyes Lozano, an advisor 
to the MinEnv who worked on the resolution, admitted that 
publishing a resolution does not mean immediate enforcement, 
especially in large cities like Bogota.  Reyes described the 
GOC as just beginning to grapple with the issue of air 
pollution.  Still, Reyes called the new standards a "critical 
first step" in reducing air pollution. 
 
¶8.  In November 2007, MinEnv and the Ministry of Mines and 
Energy reached an agreement to improve the quality of diesel 
used in Bogota.  Beginning in January 2008, Colombia will 
implement a mandate to blend five percent biodiesel into the 
diesel transportation fuel mix (reftel).  GOC officials 
expect emission-reducing biodiesel combined with higher 
quality traditional diesel to emit 30 percent less 
particulates by 2010. Efforts to reduce diesel emissions 
follows similar steps to introduce a 10 percent ethanol blend 
to the gasoline fuel mix in major Colombian cities in 2005 to 
cut air pollution.  As analysts expect diesel consumption to 
significantly outpace gasoline in Colombia over the next 
decade, improvements to the diesel fuel mix are critical to 
long-term emissions reduction. 
 
¶9.  Reyes said the MinEnv is developing an air quality plan 
for Bogota.  The MinEnv will present the plan to Bogota's new 
mayor in early 2008.  The plan will include specific 
recommendations for the new administration on a wide range of 
areas including repairing roads, improving traffic flows, and 
reforesting urban areas.  In addition, the MinEnv and 
industry are working together on a plan to reduce Bogota's 
industrial air pollution.  A pilot program in Medellin to 
reduce industrial particulates through emissions credit 
exchanges may serve as a model for Bogota. 
Nichols