How summer wildfire smoke affects Whatcom County’s air quality
An annual report on nationwide air quality gives Bellingham and Whatcom County good marks overall, but adds a failing grade because of summertime wildfire smoke.
Whatcom County gets an “F” ranking for particulate matter, the worst possible in the American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” survey that documents particle and ozone pollution — two common pollutants that are dangerous to public health.
That report covers a three-year period from 2019-2021 and includes two particularly harsh rounds of wildfire smoke, in 2020 and 2021, said Seth Preston, spokesman for the Northwest Clean Air Agency.
“It’s becoming so routine that it’s depressing,” Preston told The Bellingham Herald in an interview.
“If you factor out those few days of smoke, we have good air quality. But those days are real and people are breathing very bad smoke,” he said.
Preston said he expects that Whatcom County will fare worse in next year’s report because of a series of smoky days in September and October 2022, when the Northwest had some of the world’s worst air.
In its report, the American Lung Association gave Whatcom County:
▪ An “F” for 24-hour particle pollution (smoke).
▪ A “pass” for annual particle pollution.
▪ An “A” for ozone pollution.
▪ Overall, Bellingham tied with Bangor, Maine, for the third-best air quality in the U.S.
▪ Bellingham was No. 6 overall for year-round particle pollution., but didn’t make the list of best U.S. cities for short-term particle pollution.
According to the report, there are 22,622 people with asthma in Whatcom County, which has a population of 228,831. That number includes 3,150 children.
“Our area managed to avoid wildfire smoke events in 2019, but experienced large, prolonged events in 2020 and 2021. This caused all of Washington’s counties, including Whatcom, to score poorly on the daily averages,” said Mark Buford, executive director of the Northwest Clean Air Agency.
“Local air quality would be in the ‘A’ range for the 24-hour grades if we factored the wildfire smoke out of our data, using the Lung Association’s methodology,” Buford said in an emailed statement.
The “State of the Air” report uses data from official air quality monitors from regulatory agencies and estimates respiratory disease rates to provide a snapshot of health risks.
Northwest Clean Air Agency has eight monitoring locations in Island, Skagit, and Whatcom counties.
It works to protect and improve air quality by regulating pollution from industrial emissions, illegal burning and other sources.
“We appreciate all the people and businesses who work hard to improve and protect air quality in our area. And in wildfire season we need to make an extra effort,” Buford said.
This story was originally published April 19, 2023 at 11:50 AM.
