The WHITEX Study and the Role of the Scientific Community: A Critique

Abstract

In Winter 1987, the Denver office of the National Park Service carried out the Winter Haze Intensive Tracer Experiment (WHITEX) whose original purpose was only to investigate the feasibility of using an inert tracer to determine the contribution of a point source, the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), to the haze in Canyonlands National Park. Deuterated methane was used to trace NGS's emissions. The WHITEX study was then used as a basis of regulatory action. Unfortunately, the WHITEX study report, and papers, suffer from serious errors in implementation, analysis and interpretation.