Assessment of Responsibility for Pollution from PM10 and Sulfur Dioxide and Application to an Industrial Area on the Northeastern Coast of Venezuela

This study proposes a methodology to determine the origin of industrial emissions in order to attribute responsibility to the industries that pollute nearby towns. The methodology has been applied to the industrial area on the northeastern coast of Venezuela. This area is close to six densely populated towns. The study also gives the estimated PM10 and SO2 levels in the towns adjacent to 11 industries, through modeling the dispersion of air pollutants from stationary sources. The model used has been the Lagrangian particle model LADISMO. The results are discussed by comparing the estimated values by the model with the limits proposed by the World Health Organization and United States Environmental Protection Agency.