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Department of Ecology News Release - Jan. 5, 2005
05-003
YAKIMA - Methow Valley residents can now log-on to a Web site to learn about their air quality in an easy-to-read format.
Data from an air sampler on the Twisp City Hall is transmitted via phone lines and posted online in near-real time at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/. By clicking on a map of Okanogan County, Web browsers will be directed to an Air Quality Index (AQI) graphic.
AQI has become the national standard for communicating air quality data to the public. The color-coded graphic identifies air quality ranging from good (green) to moderate (yellow) to unhealthy (orange and red).
"Our goal is to stay in the green," explained Sue Billings, a Central Washington air quality manager for Ecology. "As you'll see if you visit the map periodically, this can be a tough goal to accomplish, especially with so many sources of smoke in the valley. Prescribed burning, wildfires, woodstoves, agricultural fires and residential burning all contribute during various seasons."
The state Department of Ecology is able to provide this streaming data through an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service, which owns and operates the air monitoring sampler.
The air sampler measures the pollution caused by combustion sources such as woodstove smoke and outdoor fires. Smoke particles are inhaled deeply into the lungs and can cause health problems for those with respiratory illness as well as for the very young and elderly.
Billings added that the Methow Valley is particularly sensitive to smoke due to its steep topography and local inversions. She encouraged Methow Valley residents to consider alternatives to burning, particularly when the air quality is bad. Alternatives to outdoor burning include composting, mulching and disposal at the local solid-waste facility.
Wood-stove users can decrease emissions by burning only clean, dry fuel and allowing for complete combustion by keeping the damper open. Remember that only clean, dry, unprocessed natural vegetation may be burned in an outdoor fire, and permits are required for many forms of outdoor burning.
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Contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, public information manager, (509) 575-2610; pager, (509) 574-0490
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
