Alabama, Georgia post ozone alerts over Feds' objections

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - A state transportation official says ozone alerts will be posted on message boards over major highways even if the Federal Highway Administration doesn&#39;t like it. <br> <br> The message boards are scheduled to start working late this summer. Ozone alerts are frequent in Jefferson and Shelby counties, which do not meet federal air quality guidelines. <br> <br> Members of the Metropolitan Planning Organization were told Thursday that the federal agency will not allow Birmingham to post ozone alerts on the message boards. <br> <br> The boards are limited to displaying safety messages, said planning organization staff member Steve Ostaseski. <br> <br> ``Why can other cities do this and we can&#39;t?&#39;&#39; asked board member Bill Gilchrist. <br> <br> Ostaseski said when he asked a Federal Highway Administration official in Montgomery that question and told her that Atlanta did it, the Montgomery staffer called a Georgia federal highway staffer. <br> <br> ``I didn&#39;t ask about the other cities after that,&#39;&#39; Ostaseski said. <br> <br> State highway officials say they program the message boards. ``If an ozone alert needs to go up, then we&#39;ll do it,&#39;&#39; said J.F. Horsley, Birmingham division engineer for the Alabama Department of Transportation. <br> <br> The consensus of the board was that Birmingham would post the alerts and not say anything about it.