This post was written by Hatchet reporter Henry Klapper.
The D.C. area now meets federal standards for the amount of ground-level ozone in the air, the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments announced Tuesday.
The Washington Metropolitan COG, a regional association of cities and municipalities, said this past summer was one of the lowest for ozone pollution in the area, marking a downward trend in the area’s overall air pollution. The COG said this finally puts the District in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2008 Ozone Standard for days exceeding unsafe levels of pollutants.
Only five days this past summer exceeded the EPA’s Ozone Standard at more than 75 parts per billion. Since 1997 and up until 2009, at least 20 days during the summer exceeded the standard. The highest day scientists recorded was in 1998 when the city saw 67 unsafe pollutant days, the release said.
Metropolitan Air Quality Committee Chairman David Snyder said in the release that it’s “a major achievement that will protect the health of our region’s residents including those that are most sensitive.”
High levels of ground-level ozone can cause serious health problems to people like the elderly, young children and those with respiratory or heart conditions. The colorless gas is created when air pollutants react during hot weather.
Snyder added in the release that the milestone of environmental progress is “a testament to more than a decade of actions at the federal, state and local government levels.”