USEPA CALPUFF validation and dispersion modeling of beef cattle feedlot PM10 and PM2.5 emissions factors

Beef cattle feedlots are major sources of criteria air pollutants in the United States. To aid stakeholders in air quality modeling, emissions factors for animal waste-producing facilities are under development by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). However, beef cattle feeding operations (feedlots) are not among facilities surveyed under the associated USEPA National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS). Authors aim to supplement NAEMS through development and validation of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) emission factors from a previous sampling campaign of five large feedlots in the Southern High Plains of North America via USEPA's CALPUFF dispersion model. PM concentrations were higher overall during the warm season (March-August; PM10 = 692 +/- 507, PM2.5 = 114 +/- 110 mu g/m3) relative to cool season (November-January; PM10 = 102 +/- 105, PM2.5 = 12.2 +/- 8.6 mu g/m3), and overall median PM10 and PM2.5 emission factors were 48.2 (day = 33.8, night = 72.4) and 5.22 (day = 8.4, night = 3.1) mg/m2/hr, respectively. Validated emissions factors were then used to model diurnal peaks and long-range transport (100 km maximum extent). Peak concentrations were most frequently observed between 2000 and 0600 h (93.9%; mean 1-hr peak +/- SD = 1119 +/- 1240 mu g/m3) for PM10 and 1600-0600 h (80.0%; mean 1-hr peak +/- SD; 178 +/- 174 mu g/m3) for PM2.5. Four of five feedlots exceeded >= 1 primary PM National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) at receptors (2-m height) over a 5-km spatial extent during the modeling period (November 2010-August 2011). Moreover, present estimates of feedlot-derived inhalable PM represent human and environmental exposure pathways currently exempt from Clean Air Act monitoring and reporting standards, and spatial interpolation of federal air quality monitors cannot adequately characterize inhalable PM concentrations in non-metropolitan municipalities and unincorporated rural communities.

Automated summary

Beef cattle feedlots are significant contributors to air pollution in the United States, especially in terms of particulate matter emissions. Current monitoring and reporting standards do not accurately capture the emissions from these facilities.