Pollution in Eugene OR/Lane county (Springfield, Oakridge: closing, move to, air pollution)

[annie80004]

Hello,
I cannot figure this one out. Eugene/Springfield OR Lane county
was ranked 5th in worst air quality for 2006/2005 in the US. Data was seen
in American Lung Association site. Los Angeles was no. 1. How
does a population of only 300,000 in a county have such a ranking?
Anyone with any answers to this confusing data. Thanks!
Annie80004

[seashelly]

They site in a valley along the interstate and the air doesn't move? Also, a lot of people use wood heat. I see the Air Pollution/Home Heating Wood Pollution Index mentioned on the news daily during the winter months so there must be a problem over there. Also, come to think of it, the daily webcams over that area with the low cloud covers aren't the prettiest to look at compared to the other cams shown around Oregon. Maybe they just don't get the wind to move the weather systems quickly. That's my 'scientific opinion' anyway.

[buzzkirk]

Eugene is at the southern end of the valley, surrounded on three sides by hills, so the air gets stuck. It doesn't rain much for four or five months so the air doesn't get washed cleaned. Throw in tons of cars spewing fumes and field burnings related to the area being a big grass/turf growing region and there you have it. Yes, wood smoke contributes too. IMO, Eugene is growing in leaps and bounds and it seems there are many more people around here now than 300k.

[ampaget]

Listen to what that guy just said! We sit in a valley surrounded by mountains... we within 100 miles of the coast.. It rains ALOT here, almost every day. I think the air is very clean and clear here. I don't understand where that information would come from.

[ampaget]

Originally Posted by buzzkirk

Eugene is at the southern end of the valley, surrounded on three sides by hills, so the air gets stuck. It doesn't rain much for four or five months so the air doesn't get washed cleaned. Throw in tons of cars spewing fumes and field burnings related to the area being a big grass/turf growing region and there you have it. Yes, wood smoke contributes too. IMO, Eugene is growing in leaps and bounds and it seems there are many more people around here now than 300k.

It rains almost every day here. How about you do a little research before you reply to posts.

[nanannie]

He said "it doesnt rain here much for four or five months".

[Journey2LS]

This thread is a year and a half old and you bumped it up to rant about that?!?

[nanannie]

Not only that, he joined the forum to post that rant,,and its a pointless rant as he didnt even read the guys post right.

[CappyOne]

I looked into the Lung Association study. My girlfriend and I wanted to move to Eugene a few years ago but definitely didn't want a place with high or even medium levels of air pollution.

It turns out that the data is so bad for particle pollution in Lane County because the monitoring station is in Oakridge, which is in a nestled valley in the mountains 45 miles east of Eugene. Wood is used as a residential heating fuel there in the winter and has no place to escape. The Oakridge data is used for the entire Lane County results!

Eugene is one of the top U.S. cities every year for good air in the Ozone part of the Lung Association study so at least they got that part right. It is a bit humorous that the Ozone measures so good and Particle measures so bad -- someone isn't cross checking the data there...

My girlfriend and I did move to Eugene 1 1/2 years ago and really like it. I can vouch for the excellent air quality. As noted above, there is field burning which is the major pollutant at a few times in the year. I expect there will be enough pressure to stop this in the coming years -- apparently it is getting close now. Very occasionally there is a temperature inversion in the winter that holds down smoke from wood fires.Other than that we are basically in the middle of nowhere here, at least, fortunately, for now!

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I'm having trouble posting the link (this is my first post in this forum), so I am going to just post the article here:

[CappyOne]

Here is another attempt at the link:

BREATHE EASY: AREA'S BAD AIR RANKING MAY NOT BE SO BAD. - Free Online Library

Copy the text between "url=" and the first closing bracket "]", and paste it to your browser window.