Air Quality Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

New Report Finds W.Va. Among Cleanest States For Air Pollution

The Charleston Metro Area ranked among the nation’s cleanest cities for ozone pollution in a report released Wednesday.

The American Lung Association released its annual “State of the Air” report, which grades exposure to unhealthy levels in the air quality.

“It grades exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone, air pollution, which you and I might think of a smog, annual particle pollution, which we might think of as soot, and short-term spikes in particle pollution over a three-year period,” said Aimee Van Cleave, the advocacy director for the American Lung Association in West Virginia.

While the Charleston Metro Area earned an A grade, the Wheeling Metro Area earned a B grade, its best result for year-round particle pollution.

“It’s doing really well,” Van Cleave said. “So we’re finding really positively that folks in West Virginia are breathing some of the cleanest air in the country.”

The report looked at levels of ozone, or smog, the air pollutant affecting the largest number of people. Cities are ranked based on the area’s worst county’s average number of unhealthy days.

The Charleston metro area had zero unhealthy days per year. The Wheeling metro area had an average of 0.3 unhealthy days per year.

While West Virginia scored well, the rest of the nation did not. The report found that nearly four in 10 people live in places with unhealthy levels of air pollution.

Van Cleave said exposure to particle pollution can lead to lung cancer, asthma episodes, heart attacks, strokes, preterm births and impaired cognitive functioning later in life.

“We can encourage folks to go to airnow.gov, where you can see if you are having a poor-quality day, and then you can take precautions such as rolling up your car windows, not exercising outside, putting your air conditioner on recirculate,” Van Cleave said. “And then of course, taking extra precautions for children and people with lung disease.”

Van Cleave said climate change is making air pollution more likely to form and more difficult to clean up. She said people should check the air quality in their area before exercising outside and take action by signing a petition.

“What we’re asking folks to do to improve air quality, there are a number of things including calling on the EPA to set long overdue, stronger national limits on ozone pollution,” Van Cleave said. “Folks can also just look at the air quality in their area and make personal choices like biking or walking rather than using the car, those kinds of things.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.

All 55 Counties Meet EPA’s Tougher Limits On Soot

The EPA this week lowered the maximum concentration for fine particulate matter by 25 percent.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set a stronger standard for soot.

The EPA this week lowered the maximum concentration for fine particulate matter by 25 percent.

The agency says the new standard will prevent thousands of premature deaths and produce $46 billion in net health benefits in the next eight years.

Since 2000, the EPA says fine particulate matter has decreased 42 percent in outdoor air.

The agency confirms that all 55 of West Virginia’s counties meet the new standard.

Most U.S. counties already meet the standard. Heavily industrial states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio have several counties that will have until 2032 to meet the new limit for soot.

Groups Push Back On House Bill To Limit Use Of Air Monitoring Data

West Virginia’s industrial and mining trade groups support the bill, but most people spoke in opposition.

Community and environmental groups testified Friday morning in a public hearing against House Bill 5018.

The bill would limit how community air monitoring data could be used in court cases or to affect regulations. West Virginia’s industrial and mining trade groups support the bill, but most people spoke in opposition.

Bill Bissett, president of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association, compared the situation to a citizen who bought a radar gun to monitor speeding drivers in the neighborhood. Only police can enforce the law, not the citizen.

“We are in no way against community monitoring, but also do not believe that environmental activist groups should become regulatory agencies,” he said. “It is important to recognize that this bill, House Bill 5018, does not stop community air monitoring. Community air monitoring has occurred in the past and it will continue into the future.”

Angie Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, noted, as many other speakers did, that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has a limited number of its own air monitors statewide. The DEP needs citizen input, Rosser said.

“DEP’s resources are limited, they have 18 ambient air quality monitor data across the state,” she said. “This leaves large gaps and information and data and that’s, as it’s been said, where community monitors play an important role in providing information where people live. The legislature and industry should be embracing community efforts.”

Pam Nixon, president of People Concerned About Chemical Safety, said residents use devices called purple air monitors to measure industrial pollution in their communities. Nixon is a former resident of Institute, a Black-majority town where poor air quality has been an issue for decades.

“Low-income communities and communities of color are already vulnerable due to proximity to polluting industries emitting fine particles, which include chemical plants, coal fired power plants, fossil fuel drilling sites for oil and gas mining sites, diesel fuel trucking companies, and asphalt and concrete plants to name a few,” she said.

An attempt by House Democrats to amend the bill failed on Friday. It now goes to third reading.

W.Va. Air Quality Alert Extended

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has issued a statewide air quality advisory for fine particulate matter until midnight Tuesday.

An air quality advisory was also issued Monday as smoke from wildfires in Canada moved into the region.

Air Quality Index scores, particularly in the Northern Panhandle, may be in the 101-150 range, which can cause health effects in sensitive groups including children, people suffering from asthma, heart or lung disease, and the elderly.

Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, citizens in areas with poor air quality are encouraged to limit their time outdoors and avoid strenuous activities.

N-95 masks can help reduce smoke inhalation and potential health risks.

Citizens are encouraged to check the AirNow website to see real time air quality data in their area and surrounding states. Please make sure you are viewing the interactive map for your area using the “contours” setting.

Air Quality Advisory Likely To Move On Before Severe Weather

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued a statewide air quality advisory for fine particulate matter through Monday at midnight. There is a possibility for severe weather across the state through Thursday.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued a statewide air quality advisory for fine particulate matter through Monday at midnight. As with previous air quality incidents this summer, the source are wildfires in Canada.

Nick Webb, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Charleston, said storms moving through the state might bring temporary relief.

“I don’t think it would last before [the smoke] would move back in,” he said. “Essentially, the rain would help bring that particulate matter down to the ground level almost.”

Webb said the smoke and haze should start to clear up Tuesday as winds shift to blow east.

“Any sustained relief, that’s going to depend on the wind direction in the upper levels of the atmosphere,” he said.

There is a possibility for severe weather across the state through Thursday.

“Today is a slight risk for severe weather with damaging winds being the main threat along with torrential rainfall,” Webb said. “Probably the more significant system we’re looking at is Wednesday and Thursday that right now looks to affect mainly the southern half of the state.”

Experts Advise Caution As Air Quality Changes

Though the National Weather Service has predicted a change in weather patterns dispersing visible smoke, air quality levels throughout much of West Virginia are still affected by Canadian wildfire smoke.

“We know that wildfires, unfortunately, are worse this year than they have ever been in Canada, earlier in the season, and the result of those wildfires is a lot of smoke, which is dependent on winds and other weather conditions,” said Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer at the American Lung Association.

Rizzo said high-risk groups should avoid spending time outdoors over the holiday weekend and keep their emergency medication with them.

“Everybody wants to be with their family, they want to participate in the events over the weekend,” Rizzo said. “But I think you need to be aware of the air quality. And certainly, if it’s up in the area where everybody gets affected, everybody needs to take those precautions with masks and try to minimize their exposure outside.”

Like the weather, air quality can change from hour to hour and Rizzo recommends checking AirNow.gov and the fire and smoke map before going outside

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.