Morgantown is a good place to breathe, according to an otherwise mostly gloomy air pollution report from the American Lung Association.
The Morgantown-Fairmont Metropolitan Statistical Area ranked among the cleanest U.S. cities for short-term particle pollution (measured over 24 hours) and ozone pollution in the ALA’s 2020 State of the Air report.
In addition, Monongalia County was one of two West Virginia counties to rank among the nation’s cleanest for ozone pollution, while Mon and Marion were among 11 in the state cited as cleanest in the U.S. for short-term particle pollution.
The EPA Air Quality Index identifies six ranges for pollution content: good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy and hazardous. Being named cleanest means the cities and counties had no days of pollution categorized in the unhealthy level.
ALA issues State of the Air annually. This edition marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act and the report begins on a negative note: For 2016-18, more cities had high days of ozone and short-term particle pollution compared to 2015-17, while many cities showed increased year-round particle pollution.
The report looks at the human health issues associated with air pollution and offers some recommendations for citizen action. “This marks the fourth report in a row that worsening air quality threatened the health of more people, despite other protective measures being in place,” it said.
It blames the changes on easing of EPA regulations and climate change, among other things. It calls for the Clean Act to be preserved and for climate change action.
ALA explains that particle pollution is a mix of tiny solid and liquid particles in the air, many of them invisible but cumulatively they can turn opaque. Unhealthy exposure can contribute to infant mortality, heart attacks, COPD and asthma, among other problems.
Ozone is a gas molecule made of three oxygen atoms and is more familiarly known as smog. Its raw ingredients, ALA says, are nitrogen oxides (Nox) and volatile organic compounds VOCs). It’s produced primarily by burning fossil fuels. Its risks include shortness of breath, respiratory infections, asthma and COPD.
ALA identifies some groups as more at risk: those under 18 or over 65; people with asthma, COPD, lung cancer or heart disease; people of color and people who live in poverty, because they tend to live in more polluted areas; and people who have smoked at some point.
While the nation is in the midst of the shale gas boom, ALA says, “Natural gas is far from clean.” Wells, processing plants, transmission lines and storage units emit VOCs and greenhouse gases. ALA urges citizens to use less electricity and to urge their states to switch from gas-fired power to renewables.
More broadly, ALA urges people to drive less and walk, bike or use public transportation more often. Try to avoid burning wood or trash and urge school systems to switch to cleaner school buses — electric if possible.
ALA names the Pittsburgh-Weirton-New Castle, Ohio, area as 17th among the top 25 most polluted areas for short-term particle pollution and eighth for year-round particle pollution.
The Wheeling metro area, with a population of 140,045, ranks with Morgantown-Fairmont, population 196,356 among the cleanest for short-term particle pollution. Washington County, Pa., ranks among the cleanest counties in this category. The cleanest West Virginia counties in this category are Berkeley, Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Harrison, Kanawha, Marion, Marshall, Mon, Ohio and Wood.
Morgantown-Fairmont is the only West Virginia metro area to rank among the cleanest for ozone pollution, while Mon and Greenbrier are the only West Virginia counties. Garrett County, Md., also falls in this list
Kevin Stewart, Lung Association director of Environmental Health Services, commented on some of the aspects of the report. He noted that Mon and Marion counties have a long history of days without fine particle pollution: eight years for Mon, nine for Marion.
The Dominion Post pointed out that this area is clean despite having nearby coal-fired power plants and sitting in the heart of fracking country. He replied that ALA data comes from the EPA and he had no local information to explain why the air is so clean.
Stewart said this is the first year for Morgantown-Fairmont and Mon County to get an “A” for zero days without ozone pollution since the new standards were adopted in 2015. “That’s a report card you definitely want to take home and show people.” Ozone pollution is a more difficult pollutant to get adequate control of.
On the topic of alternative transportation, The Dominion Post pointed out that Morgantown is hilly, not particularly bike or pedestrian friendly and has only limited public transportation.
Stewart said that the recommendations are more broadly national and have to be tailored to local needs.
“What do we want our community to look like, how healthy do we want it to be when you look down the road several decades,” he asked. Citizens should seek to put policies in place now to encourage cleaner methods of transportation in the future.
“We do want people to recognize that this is an opportunity to shift the direction somewhat to make sure the world we’re going into is healthier from all sorts of perspectives,” he said.
The full State of the Air Report can be viewed online at stateoftheair.org or lung.org/sota.
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