Is our Air Quality getting better or worse?

Join the discussion on the latest State of the Air report.  Kevin Stewart, Director of Environmental Health at the American Lung Association, will discuss ALA findings in the 2012 State of the Air report.

Please join us at the Second Presbyterian Church, 528 Garland Drive, Carlisle, on May 3, at 7 pm.

Clean Air Board Community Meeting

The Clean Air Board will hold a community meeting on Aug. 5, 7 pm

Kevin Stewart, representing the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, will speak on the “State of Our Air – where we have been; where we are; and where we are going?”

Second Presbyterian Church, 528 Garland Drive, Carlisle, PA  17013

Harrisburg region gets another bad grade for air quality: Patriot News

April 28, 2010: Patriot News

Harrisburg region gets another bad grade for air quality

by David Wenner

The Harrisburg region has received another poor grade regarding air quality. The Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon region ranks as the 22nd worst in the nation for short-term particle pollution in the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report.

Although the area’s air improved slightly, its ranking was slightly worse than in the previous report, when it ranked 24th worst. Particle pollution, known as soot, involves microscopic particles from sources such as cars and trucks, coal-fired power plants, construction sites and tilled fields. It can cause lung irritation for normal people and severe problems for people with lung conditions such as asthma, emphysema, bronchitis and heart disease.

The region has long registered high levels of both particle and ozone pollution, causing groups such as the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania to wage an ongoing push for policies aimed at reducing the problem. Much of the problem is attributed to its concentration of trucking and the presence of Interstate 81 and several other high-volume highways. There’s also the coal-fired power plant on Brunner Island near York Haven.

“I think there has been slight improvement over the years,” said Tom Au, president of the Clean Air Board. He noted a law that prevents truckers from idling their rigs during rest periods will take affect next month, impacting a major source of local air pollution.

You can search local air quality grades by zip code, and send messages to federal elected officials, at www.lungusa.org. Information about the “State of the Air” report can be found at www.stateoftheair.org.

Air Quality From Bad to Worse: Sentinel News

May 3, 2007: Sentinel News

Air Quality From Bad to Worse

by Jessica Bruni

Excerpt:

For months, members of the Clean Air Board have spoken to the community in horrified tones about the Carlisle area’s ranking as the 24th most polluted metropolitan area in the nation regarding fine particulate matter.

Well, the area no longer ranks at 24. It’s now at No. 14.

On Tuesday, the American Lung Association released its 2007 list of best and worst cities for air quality standards. Moving up the ladder from No. 24 to No. 14 in the category of metropolitan area “most polluted by short-term particle pollution” was the Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon area.

People, truck, traffic affect quality

However, Kevin Stewart, director of environmental health for the American Lung Association, said, there’s little doubt the influx of people, trucks and traffic into the area has had a negative effect on air quality. For the record, the Carlisle area had 44 bad air days over a three-year period while Dauphin County had 38. Both, Stewart said, were enough to qualify the areas to make the ALA’s bad air list.

The Carlisle area also has the unlucky distinction of being located upwind from the Baltimore Washington corridor — meaning all the pollution from that congested area travels here. At the same time, the area also draws in down winds from the west, bringing in pollution from the rest of Pennsylvania, Virginia and beyond.

“All of those sources together are what has created the air pollution problems that we observe here,” Stewart said.

Area’s Latest Ranking Doesn’t Surprise Asthma Sufferers: Patriot News

May 3, 2007: Patriot News

Wind Blows Polluted Air Our Way: Area’s latest ranking doesn’t surprise asthma sufferers (Archive Fee Required)

by Ford Turner

Blow up a big balloon, then try to keep your mouth in place and let all the air shoot back into your lungs.

That is what an asthma attack feels like, Carol Crupi says. And as she learned this week, asthma sufferers in the midstate might be more susceptible to attacks than those who live elsewhere.

A report from the American Lung Association ranked Cumberland and Dauphin counties among the 25 worst places in the nation in terms of short-term particle air pollution.

DEP to Monitor Carlisle Area’s Air: Sentinel News

Bob Conrad, DEP chief of mobile labs, demonstrates an air monitoring unit at Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Middlesex Township. (Michael Bupp/The Sentinel)

DEP to Monitor Carlisle Area’s Air

June 14, 2006: The Sentinel News

Read Full Article

By David Blymire

Excerpt: “State officials took the first step Tuesday toward fulfilling a pledge to study air pollution in Cumberland County.

The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) set up a mobile air quality monitoring site in the parking lot behind Claremont Nursing and Rehabilitation in Middlesex Township.

That site is one of at least four locations surrounding Carlisle where the state will gather air quality samples over the next five weeks before determining where to locate a more permanent, one-year air quality monitor.

Bob Conrad, DEP’s Bureau of Labs, said he will use a truck-based “mobile analytical unit” (MAU) to sample for carbon monoxide and a “random, broad range of compounds.”

It does not test for fine particle pollution, a source of concern recently for area doctors and a citizens’ group, but the samples will measure pollutants that often come from similar sources, offering DEP a reliable guide in deciding where to locate the one-year site.”