The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (WVDEP) Division of Air Quality and the state Department of Health and Human Resources’ (DHHR) Bureau for Public Health (BPH) have issued a statewide Air Quality Advisory regarding smoke from Canada.
Fine particulate matter in smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to affect air quality in the eastern United States. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (WVDEP) Division of Air Quality and the state Department of Health and Human Resources’ (DHHR) Bureau for Public Health (BPH) have issued a statewide Air Quality Advisory.
According to AirNow.gov, unofficial air monitors indicate counties in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle (Air Quality Index score of 201-300), the Morgantown-Clarksburg-Fairmont area (151-200), and the Charleston area (101-150) are currently the most impacted in the state.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
AQI scores in the 201-300 range (purple) indicate an increased risk of health effects for everyone.
Scores in the 151-200 range (red) indicate that some members of the general public may experience health effects and members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
Areas with scores in the 101-150 range (orange) will primarily impact those who are sensitive to air pollution.
The agencies suggest monitoring the AirNow website to see real time air quality data.
Residents 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.
More information about the AQI, including activity guides for when air quality reaches unhealthy levels, is available here.
Click here for information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on protecting yourself from wildfire smoke.
With weather systems expected to hardly budge, the smoky blanket billowing across the U.S. and Canada from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia should persist into Thursday and possibly the weekend.
NEW YORK (AP) — On air quality maps, purple signifies the worst of it. In reality, it’s a thick, hazardous haze that’s disrupting daily life for millions of people across the U.S. and Canada, blotting out skylines and turning skies orange.
And with weather systems expected to hardly budge, the smoky blanket billowing from wildfires in Quebec and Nova Scotia and sending plumes of fine particulate matter as far away as North Carolina and northern Europe should persist into Thursday and possibly the weekend.
That means at least another day, or more, of a dystopian-style detour that’s chased players from ballfields, actors from Broadway stages, delayed thousands of flights and sparked a resurgence in mask wearing and remote work — all while raising concerns about the health effects of prolonged exposure to such bad air.
The weather system that’s driving the great Canadian-American smoke out — a low-pressure system over Maine and Nova Scotia — “will probably be hanging around at least for the next few days,” U.S. National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Ramsey said.
“Conditions are likely to remain unhealthy, at least until the wind direction changes or the fires get put out,” Ramsey said. “Since the fires are raging — they’re really large — they’re probably going to continue for weeks. But it’s really just going be all about the wind shift.”
Across the eastern U.S., officials warned residents to stay inside and limit or avoid outdoor activities again Thursday, extending “Code Red” air quality alerts in some places for a third-straight day as forecasts showed winds continuing to push smoke-filled air south.
The smoke has moved over Greenland and Iceland since June 1, and was expected to reach Norway on Thursday, the Norwegian Climate and Environmental Research Institute said, but wasn’t expected to be a health concern.
In Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered schools to cancel outdoor recess, sports and field trips Thursday. In suburban Philadelphia, officials set up an emergency shelter so people living outside can take refuge from the haze.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state was making a million N95 masks — the kind prevalent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — available at state facilities, including 400,000 in New York City. She also urged residents to stay put.
“You don’t need to go out and take a walk. You don’t need to push the baby in the stroller,” Hochul said Wednesday night. “This is not a safe time to do that.”
The message may be getting through. So far, officials said Wednesday, New York City has yet to see an uptick in 911 calls related to respiratory issues and cardiac arrests.
More than 400 blazes burning across Canada have left 20,000 people displaced. The U.S. has sent more than 600 firefighters and equipment to Canada. Other countries are also helping.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke to President Joe Biden by phone on Wednesday. Trudeau’s office said he thanked Biden for his support and that both leaders “acknowledged the need to work together to address the devastating impacts of climate change.”
Canadian officials say this is shaping up to be the country’s worst wildfire season ever. It started early on drier-than-usual ground and accelerated quickly. Smoke from the blazes has been lapping into the U.S. since last month but intensified with recent fires in Quebec, where about 100 were considered out of control Wednesday.
“I can taste the air,” Dr. Ken Strumpf said in a Facebook post from Syracuse, New York, where the sky took on the colorful nickname of the local university: Orange.
The smoke was so thick in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, that office towers just across the Ottawa River were barely visible. In Toronto, Yili Ma said her hiking group canceled a planned hike this week, and she was forgoing the restaurant patios that are a beloved summer tradition in a nation known for hard winters.
“I put my mask away for over a year, and now I’m putting on my mask since yesterday,” Ma lamented.
Eastern Quebec got some rain Wednesday, but Montreal-based Environment Canada meteorologist Simon Legault said no significant rain is expected for days in the remote areas of central Quebec where the wildfires are more intense.
In the U.S., federal officials paused some flights bound Wednesday for New York’s LaGuardia Airport and slowed planes to Newark and Philadelphia because smoke was limiting visibility.
Major League Baseball’s Yankees and Phillies had their games postponed. On Broadway, “Hamilton” and “Camelot” canceled Wednesday performances and “Prima Facie” star Jodie Comer left a matinee after 10 minutes because of difficulty breathing. The show restarted with an understudy, show publicists said.
It was not to be at Central Park’s outdoor stage, either. Shakespeare in the Park canceled its Thursday and Friday performances of “Hamlet,” saying ’tis not nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of wretched air.
According to the company’s permit application, the facility will emit 9.4 tons a year of methyl bromide. Methyl bromide is a fumigant that kills fungi and wood-boring insects.
Hardy County residents have a few more weeks to submit comments on a state permit for a log fumigation facility.
Allegheny Wood Products plans to construct the log fumigation facility in Baker and has sought an air quality permit from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP).
According to the company’s permit application, the facility will emit 9.4 tons a year of methyl bromide. Methyl bromide is a fumigant that kills fungi and wood-boring insects.
It is toxic. Prolonged exposure to the chemical can cause central nervous system and respiratory failures in humans, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It also depletes ozone. It has been phased out since 2005 except for certain critical uses.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is investigating the appearance of dust clouds across multiple counties in the state’s Eastern Panhandle.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is investigating the appearance of dust clouds across multiple counties in the state’s Eastern Panhandle.
Inspectors were mobilized to collect samples and identify potential sources after receiving reports late Thursday night.
The source has not been identified and no shelter in place advisories have been issued for the area.
“We have staff on site who are coordinating with our state and local partners to identify the material and any potential causes,” said DEP Division of Air Quality Director Laura Crowder.
The DEP is working with the Berkeley County Office of Emergency Services and the state Department of Agriculture to collect additional samples and have them analyzed.
Samples will also be taken to the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey in Morgantown to determine if the cause of the dust is related to recent dust storms in the Midwest.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture, West Virginia Emergency Management Division and the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office are also investigating the situation.
A Danish stone wool insulation manufacturing facility that has sparked two years’ worth of protests and division in the Eastern Panhandle is under investigation for political improprieties, air quality and water quality.
The organization announced this month it is starting a formal investigation into the Rockwool facility being built in Ranson, Jefferson County after receiving a complaint from residents in the county last October.
The complaint claims the company “neglected the recommended principles and standards of conduct associated with good corporate citizenship.”
“This complaint to the Danish Mediation and Complaints-Handling Institution is being filed after many months of pursuing other legal and political mechanisms to stop or otherwise drastically improve the project,” the document states. “At this time, we have exhausted all other meaningful avenues available to us in the United States.”
NCP Denmark received the complaint from members of the West Virginians for Sustainable Development group, which is made up of residents of Jefferson County and the surrounding region, including West Virginia House of Delegates members Democrats John Doyle and Sammi Brown, as well as Jefferson County Commissioners Jane Tabb and Ralph Lorenzetti.
The complaint from West Virginians for Sustainable Development comes after two years of growing contention between Rockwool and locals.
The Rockwool facility in Ranson would make stone wool insulation by melting down basalt rock and recycled slag. Fibers are spun to create a wool-like material used to insulate buildings, industrial applications or acoustic ceilings. The company touts the product as “green” and says it is more viable than traditional fiberglass insulation. The product is also heat and water-resistant.
The facility in Ranson will be 460,000-square-feet and feature state-of-the-art technology, according to the company. It is expected to employ about 150 people earning wages between $35,000 and $85,000 a year. But the plant will also feature two, 21-story smokestacks releasing a range of chemicals including formaldehyde at 67.6 tons a year and benzene at 0.1 tons a year. Formaldehyde is listed as a possible carcinogen by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, while many other scientific bodies say it is. Benzene, however, is considered a carcinogen.
Rockwool received its Air Quality Permit from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection in April 2018.
The facility is also being built on former orchard land that’s within a few miles of four public schools and neighborhoods – the nearest school being a Title I elementary school, meaning many of its students come from low-income households.
The Rockwool company has said the impact to the environment would be minimal, noting that many of the chemicals, such as formaldehyde, are produced naturally in nature. They have also said that chemicals produced by gas-powered vehicles are worse and in higher quantities than what will come out of the smokestacks at the facility.
“We respect that some local citizens may have a different view and have a right to air their concerns,” said Rockwool’s former North American President Trent Ogilvie in an interview with West Virginia Public Broadcasting last year. “All we ask, is to engage in constructive, fact-based, open-minded conversation. We respect concern, and we just want to make sure we can engage and be transparent and answer their questions.”
But this has done little to quell residents’ fears or slow pushback who feel that any negative impacts to air quality is too much. They also say the location of the facility is inappropriate.
In the two years since it was announced that the company would be coming to West Virginia, there have been protests, rallies, pending lawsuits and public records requests. And now residents are seeking help from officials in Denmark.
“We are pleased that NCP Denmark believes this case merits further consideration,” said Rod Snyder, chair of West Virginians for Sustainable Development in a press release. “Local citizens have been working tirelessly for two years to have a meaningful say in economic development decisions in our community. Our primary goal is to achieve an outcome that is significantly more protective of air, water, and the health and safety of our children and families in Jefferson County and the surrounding region.”
Rockwool’s Vice President of Group Communications Michael Zarin responded to the complaint and investigation in an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
“We are entirely confident that we have planned and are executing the project respecting all local and international requirements,” said Zarin. “Factory construction is well underway, and we are pleased to see significant interest in employment and economic development opportunities from the local community.”
While NCP Denmark is a non-judicial institution, the group can issue recommendations for best business practices and point out areas they deem as problems. The group strives to “create a framework for mediation, dialogue and conflict resolution” between entities, according to its website.
“As part of the investigation, NCP Denmark will primarily focus on the OECD Guidelines’ chapter II on General Policies (including paragraph 14 on stakeholder engagement), chapter IV on Human Rights, and chapter VI on Environment,” said NCP Denmark in its public announcement of the investigation.
The investigation is expected to be finalized in early 2021.
The Rockwool facility in Ranson is expected to be operational by spring 2021.
Isabella Back, 18, pulls her jacket tight around herself as she crosses the gravel driveway. “So we’re going about 10 feet from my house to my dad’s workshop,” she says, and pushes through a door in a big, red barn.
The Kona, Kentucky, shop is crowded with cluttered work tables and hulking machines, and the sound of whirring and grinding fills the air. The shop smells of paint and other chemicals. Back’s dad, Rod, started this metal fabrication shop after he got laid off from coal mining. He mostly makes signs for local businesses. He waves a friendly hello.
Credit Sydney Boles / Ohio Valley ReSource
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Ohio Valley ReSource
Isabella Back at her father’s workshop in eastern Kentucky.
“He uses so many chemicals to paint the metal, strip the metal, stuff like that,” Back said. “It scares me a little bit, because I don’t want him to get sick.”
Back documented the shop for the Mountain Air Project, a study with the University of Kentucky that explores potential environmental contributors to lung disease in the southeast corner of the state.
Credit Photo courtesy of the Mountain Air Project
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Spray paints in the Back’s workshop
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 percent of adults in Letcher and Harlan Counties reported having an asthma diagnosis, compared to 8 percent nationally. Rates of COPD were also higher in eastern Kentucky.
Higher rates of smoking explain some of that disparity, said Mountain Air Project manager Beverly May, but not all of it. “The question from a research perspective is,” May asked, “what other things might be contributing to the disease, and could it be our environment?”
In addition to an epidemiological study, researchers employed a research practice called Photovoice, which asks people in a given community to use photography to share their experiences and perspectives with researchers who are typically not from that community. After receiving photography lessons from esteemed Appalachian photographer Malcolm Wilson, 10 young people between the ages of 12 and 18, all attending Letcher County schools, set out with digital cameras to document contributors to lung disease in their communities.
“To our knowledge, this is the first Photovoice project in the Appalachian region to specifically involve youth focusing on environmental health,” said University of Kentucky researcher Katie Cardarelli.
Health vs. Livelihood
Researchers analysed the students’ photographs to identify larger themes which might have gone unnoticed in a traditional health study. One such theme was the choices many east Kentuckians have had to make to earn a living.
Several photographs expressed deep concern for the dangers that coal mining posed not only to individual coal miners, but to whole communities exposed to particulates from resource extraction. One student submitted a photo of a coal-transport railroad visible from their backyard. “Our area has been coal country for years,” wrote the student photographer, “exposing us to things that people in most parts of the country are not exposed to.”
Credit Photo courtesy of the Mountain Air Project
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Participants were also concerned about coal dust exposure.
Several earlier studies show higher incidence of disease in communities near large-scale strip mines. This one, however, did not. UK researcher Jay Christian said his analysis of the current contributors to lung disease did not point to environmental exposure from coal mining or oil and gas drilling. “We’re not finding clear evidence of population-level exposures that appear to be driving the high rates of lung disease,” Christian said. But previous exposure may still have contributed to current instances of disease.
“Coal mining has decreased very rapidly in the region,” he said. “So it’s hard to know how airborne particulate levels in the region now compare to those 20 years ago.”
Occupational exposure to coal dust remains a significant factor in the region, with rates of black lung disease skyrocketing in recent years.
Cultural Legacies
“There were a lot of photos that our participants shared with us that took place on porch settings,” Cardarelli said. “A lot of these youth talked about, for example, if they wanted to spend time with their families, that might have to occur on a porch where a lot of smoking was going on.”
Smoking rates in Kentucky are among the highest in the nation, behind only Guam and West Virginia.
Kentucky had the dubious distinction of placing three counties among the country’s top 10 for highest rates of smoking in 2012. Eastern Kentucky’s Clay County had a smoking rate of 37 percent. In Letcher County, where Back lives, 30 percent of adults smoked cigarettes.
Back said the health impact of smoking weighed heavily on her. “It’s not just second-hand smoke you’re exposed to; you’re exposed to that way of life,” she said.
Back recalls an instance from when she was 17, driving home with a member of her family who smokes. The pair stopped at a gas station, and Back wanted some water and some chips. But she knew her family member only had enough money for gas and a pack of cigarettes. So she kept silent. “I didn’t want them to not be able to get their cigarettes,” she said. “I didn’t want to inconvenience them like that.”
Back documented the incident in a photograph for the study. In the image, a package of cigarettes lies open on a table next to a scattered handful of coins.
“It’s not an everyday thing for me to choose between food and a pack of cigarettes, but I know for so many people in eastern Kentucky, it is,” Back said.
Credit Photo courtesy of the Mountain Air Project
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Photo Courtesy of the Mountain Air Project
A Voice’s Value
The Photovoice project wasn’t the only part of Mountain Air to use alternative research methods. The researchers collaborated with a community advisory board made up of east Kentucky residents to make sure local people’s perspectives were taken into account.
Roy Silver is a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, and he served as the chair of the advisory board. “Frequently, when researchers want to research what’s going on here in the mountains, they don’t work with the local people to figure out what are the best ways to do that, and also how to take that research and make it of use to people locally to improve the quality of life.”
One day in 2014 when researchers and community members were gathered together on someone’s porch, they stumbled upon a novel approach to collecting and analyzing: Hollers.
Those narrow valleys, with their central streams and single-access roads, define the mountain way of organizing communities.
“Wouldn’t you think, if you’re concerned about environmental exposures, that the people who all live in the same holler would have pretty much the same exposure? And that’s just us talking as hillbillies,” researcher May said.
Back at the University of Kentucky, Christian took the idea and found that where county-level environmental health averages may obscure variations of exposures, hollers corresponded neatly with federally recognized 14-digit hydrologic unit codes – that is, small segments of creeks and streams that all lead into the same body of water.
“They tend to be formed around these little valleys and areas with little creeks running down them, which is why they line up so well with hollers,” Christian said.
May said innovations like that, coupled with the community involvement, meant that the project “helps us dig down into how people really live.”
The community advisory board also suggested including local young people in the research.
Although the Mountain Air project considered Photovoice an “exploratory study,” students identified factors contributing to poor air quality that the researchers might not otherwise have considered. Students photographed citronella candles, moldy showers, dusty air vents and heavy pollen. Those factors are unlikely to be significant contributors to eastern Kentucky’s higher rates of lung disease, Cardarelli said, but the researchers may include at least some of them in a second iteration of its household survey.
Credit Sydney Boles
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Mountain Air Project participant Isabella Back at her Letcher Co., KY, home.
“My colleagues and I were so impressed with the youth participants from Letcher County,” Cardarelli said. She hopes to involve youth in the next Mountain Air project, and is already working to involve young people in some data collection. “They clearly have a role in the future to make their communities better.”
The project brought lasting value to participant Back. “I don’t think there’s a lot of young people to talk about things like our environment,” she said. “You don’t have a class in high school to teach you to speak up about things like this.”
Now a freshman at Georgetown College in central Kentucky, Back hopes one day to move home to help the community move forward. “I feel like I have a greater appreciation for using my voice as a young person, because people will listen to you, and people will take your ideas and your perspectives into account.”
The youth Photovoice study was published in October in theInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. An article on the novel use of hollers for conducting epidemiological research will be published this month in the Journal of Progress in Community Health Partnerships. The full epidemiological study is forthcoming.
