Lackawanna County officials baffled at NEPA exclusion from initial DEP air quality warning over smoke from Canadian wildfires

Jim Lockwood and Borys Krawczeniuk, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
Updated ·2 min read

Jun. 7—Lackawanna County officials are baffled that local counties were excluded from the state Department of Environmental Protection's initial Code Orange air quality warning Tuesday as hazardous wildfire smoke from Canada blanketed the region.

The Tuesday warning included many counties further south, such as Philadelphia, as well as in the Lehigh Valley. On Wednesday, the DEP issued a Code Red, its severest alert, for the entire state.

The Code Red alert advises that "Pennsylvania residents should limit their outdoor activities, especially older people, children, those who are active outdoors and those with lung or respiratory conditions, such as asthma, emphysema or bronchitis."

The DEP didn't explain why Lackawanna and other local counties were omitted from Tuesday's Code Orange, said county Chief of Staff Brian Jeffers. Attempts to reach DEP officials were unsuccessful Wednesday.

"At the end of the day, we're going to keep following (the advice) they keep sending us," Jeffers said.

Air quality throughout much of Northeast Pennsylvania became "hazardous" Wednesday for particulate matter because of the wildfires, according to AirNow.gov. Particulate matter is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air.

"Everyone should stay indoors and reduce activity levels," an AirNow alert warned about the air quality.

The AirNow Air Quality Index rating ranges from zero to 500, with anything under 100 considered satisfactory and anything over 300 considered hazardous.

The AQI in Scranton at 6 p.m. Tuesday was 242, or in the "very unhealthy" category. On Wednesday, it rose to 305 by 1 p.m., moving into the "hazardous" category, and then 389 at 4 p.m.

AirNow is a partnership of EPA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Park Service, NASA, Centers for Disease Control, and tribal, state and local air quality agencies.

The weather pattern pushing the smoke is forecast to continue until Friday for most of Pennsylvania, according to the DEP.

The wildfire smoke was the worst to hit the Northeastern United States in over 20 years, according to AccuWeather.

"As bad as the smoke and air pollution was on Tuesday, the air quality can be even worse at times across parts of the Northeast on Wednesday and poor air quality is expected to linger in some areas into the weekend," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement.

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185;

@jlockwoodTT on Twitter.