Foul Air Over Voyageurs National Park

Several conservation groups in Minnesota are calling on the federal government to force the state to reduce haze over Minnesota's national parks and wilderness areas.

They've petitioned the U-S government to include some tough clean-up measures in a plan being developed by the state's Pollution Control Agency.

Chuck Laszewski of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy says they want that plan to reduce the emissions and haze and improve the region's air quality.

"The air over some of our most pristine areas, particularly the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and Voyageurs National Park, suffers from haze many days of the year," says Laszewski. "It shouldn't. When people go to those places, they should have crystal-clear skies to look at."

Laszewski says much of the haze can be attributed to coal-fired plants and taconite processing plants in Minnesota.