Wilmington's air ranked among nation's cleanest

SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Walk outside and take a deep breath because that air entering your lungs is some of the cleanest in America.

In its annual State of the Air study, which tests particulate and ozone pollution, the American Lung Association has found that Wilmington is one of the U.S. cities with the cleanest air quality, alongside other metropolitan areas like Bellingham, Washington; Burlington, Vermont; Casper, Wyoming; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Melbourne, Florida.

In the study, the Port City tied for first for the cleanest metropolitan area in the country for ozone quality and for cleanest area for short-term particle pollution. As for the cleanest year-round particle pollution rates, it tied for 14th with Homosassa Springs, Florida, and Syracuse-Auburn, New York.

Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo said the findings are a great selling point for the region for those possibly looking at the making the move and represent the efforts being made locally to clean the Port City's air.

"I think it great to be recognized among the best in the country," he said. "It goes to the hard work everyone has put into making sure that companies that move here or are already here operate in environmentally friendly ways."

New Hanover County Health Department Director Phillip Tarte said the positive marks are likely boosted by more and more companies switching to natural gas systems in the region.

"Particularly with Duke Energy switching over to natural gas, I think that helped us with the tremendous ranking we had on the particulate side," he said, alluding to Duke's replacement of the Sutton Plant's coal-fired generators with a new plant powered by natural gas.

But the credit can't all be given to the manufacturers. Tarte said the low ratings can also be attributed to stiffer laws prohibiting backyard burning and smoking in public.

"I think the protective laws prohibiting those thing, as well as good waste collection really keeps the pollution down," he said. "People don't realize this, but barrel burning produces tons and tons of particle pollution, more than some of our plants."

On the other end of the spectrum, eight of the 10 smoggiest cities call California home, with the top spot going to the Los Angeles/Long Beach area -- a distinction it has held for more than a decade. The only cities in the top ten not located in the Golden State were Phoenix and New York City.

Tarte said those suffering from respiratory conditions in the region will benefit most from the high marks.

"For those individuals that have chronic conditions like asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), this is wonderful news," he said. "It is also good for those individuals that don’t have those conditions, just knowing their air is clean.

Clean air, you can't beat it."

Reporter Hunter Ingram can be reached at 910-343-2327 or Hunter.Ingram@StarNewsOnline.com.