For the 19th year in a row, New Castle County gets an 'F' for clean air

For the 19th year in a row, New Castle County received a failing grade for ozone pollution, which has gotten worse over the last few years, according to a new report from the American Lung Association.

“Unhealthful levels of ozone in Delaware put our citizens at risk for premature death and other serious health effects such as asthma attacks and greater difficulty breathing for those living with a lung disease such as COPD,” said Kevin Stewart, director of environmental health for the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, in a press release.

The association's annual State of the Air report, out Wednesday, compiled national air quality data collected from 2014-2016 related to ozone, a chemical that creates smog or haze especially along high-traffic and populated areas such as the I-95 corridor, and short- and long-term particle pollution, which is often called soot.

The report found that in 2014-16, New Castle County recorded 25 days with high ozone compared to three days in Kent County and seven days in Sussex County.

"If you're a person with asthma, one bad air day can be one bad air day too many," Stewart said in a phone interview.

But when it comes to fine particle pollution, things are looking up in many places across the country, he said.

"Both Kent and Sussex counties had their seventh year in a row with no bad air days [from particle pollution]," he said. "That's the only way you get an A. New Castle County is a different story because although it did improve, it wasn't the best ever for the area."

About 41 percent of people in the United States live in counties with unhealthy levels of air pollution, the report states.

The American Lung Association also warned that efforts to ensure Americans have clean air could be under threat as the Trump administration reviews the Clean Air Act and challenges efforts to address emissions-driven climate change.

That review includes a proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan, a federal mandate that would force polluters to cut carbon dioxide emissions nationwide by 2030.

"To protect public health, the nation must act to fight climate charge; core to that is cutting carbon pollution," the report states. "Unfortunately, the current EPA has taken steps that would dismantle our nation's first and only federal plan to limit carbon pollution from power plants."

In the report, Delaware's northernmost county, along with Kent County, are rolled into the Philadelphia metro area, which accounts for 16 counties in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. That area is among the top 25 worse in the nation for ozone pollution.

But downstate, Sussex County is rolled in to the Salisbury metro area, which has a much smaller population and is consistently ranked as one of the cleanest metro areas in the country.

The American Lung Association’s 19th annual State of the Air report found that while some instances of air pollution along the Mid-Atlantic are improving, the area continues to struggle with an increasing number of days with elevated – and potentially dangerous – levels of ozone.

In Delaware, a large amount of air pollution comes from upwind states as far west as the Mississippi River, Stewart said. Delaware officials have tried to force federal officials to curb air pollution wafting from other states by threatening to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if it fails to force power plants to reduce air emissions.

The American Lung Association’s report found that ozone levels increased in most cities nationwide, likely due to climate change and record-breaking temperatures seen throughout the United States, particularly in 2016.

Stewart said the differing trends between the two pollutants is likely related to how government regulations and industries curb air pollution.

"Ozone is a pollutant where there's still some significant sources that haven't been sufficiently controlled," he said. "For fine particles, the kinds of sources that we've noticed have gotten a lot better control ... and the kinds of places they come from are narrower."

Ozone is created by chemical reactions in the atmosphere involving nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds, and can worsen on hot, still, sunny days. Fine particle pollution generally comes from smokestacks and other similar sources.

While the report warned New Castle County residents could be facing serious health impacts from poor air quality, the American Lung Association also had some good news for Delawareans.

For the seventh year in a row, Sussex County received an A for particle pollution and recorded its fourth best year for ozone.

New Castle and Sussex counties also have seen a downward trend of soot pollution over the last decade, surpassing national averages.

The American Lung Association recorded an “incomplete” grade for Kent County for annual particle pollution, likely due to a lack of monitoring data, although the report gave the county an A grade for 24-hour instances of high particle pollution.

To read the full report, go to www.lung.org.

Contact reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608, mlauria@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @MaddyinMilford.

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