Travelers often remark when coming to the Northwoods about how clean our air is here. A recent federal report finds all Wisconsin counties should be designated as meeting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.
The EPA reviewed data from all 50 states on fine particles. Wisconsin met or exceeded EPA standards from border to border.
Wisconsin DNR Air Management Specialist Anne Bogar says the numbers show the state's air is cleaner...
"....we're relating to a couple of standards, one for ozone and one for fine particles. This most recent news was on fine particles. Even with a more stringent standard we still don't have any counties or areas in the state that don't meet this more stringent standard...."
Bogar says tiny particulate matter can be a number of different things..
"....they can be chemical or they can be hard to they can be dust particles or they can be from agricultural, but it's your vehicle exhaust, it can be an engine and a combustion product so it can be wood burning. It could be electric plant or smokestack emissions that go high in the air and go long distances...."
The state recommended to the feds that all counties should be designated as meeting the more strict air quality standards. The feds agreed.
The EPA will seek public comment on the proposed designations before announcing final designations in December.
Bogar says this is good news for Wisconsin's air quality. More information is on the DNR website if you put in keywords "air quality".
