The Benton Clean Air Agency (BCAA) said Monday that the air quality in our region is unhealthy.

  Last week's alert was moderate, now gotten worse

The air quality as of noon, Monday September 12th is considered unhealthy. Data supplied to the Department of Ecology by the BCAA shows we're in the read, so to speak.

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Air Quality Expert and Engineer Tyler Thompson of the BCAA released information, which read in part:

"Benton County is currently still experiencing elevated levels of smoke particulate due to wildfires in the region. The pollutant measured is PM2.5; particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns. The Air Quality Index (AQI) is currently at Unhealthy. Changing weather conditions could improve air quality by midweek, but residents should prepare for continued levels of unhealthy air if changing weather patterns don’t move wildfire smoke out of the area."

The color coding used by the BCAA indicates green is good and normal, yellow is moderate, red is unhealthy, followed by purple which is very unhealthy, and maroon is considered hazardous.

 Last week's alert was issued on September 9th.

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