Smog levels in Charlottesville exceeded national health standards on three days in 2010, according to a report by Environment America released Wednesday.
The report examined the number of unhealthy air days in metropolitan areas across the country. Environment America based its report on ozone monitoring conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, which sets the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for pollutants considered harmful to public health and the environment.
The Environment America report listed Charlottesville as the 21st most polluted small metropolitan area in the nation.
"Virginians deserve to breathe clean air, and too many days out of the year people are exposed to dangerous levels of smog," said Sarah Bucci, a federal field organizer for Environment America.
The report warned that smog is an air pollutant which potentially increases risks of respiratory illnesses and asthma attacks.
The organization also advocated lowering the current NAAQS, which were set in 2008, from 75 parts ozone per billion to 60 to 70 parts ozone per billion. The report stated that a lower standard would more accurately identify harmful levels of air pollution which the current standards fail to define as unhealthy.
"The current standard isn't based on the best science," Bucci said.
According to the report, research indicated that if evaluated by a stricter standard, Charlottesville would have experienced one additional day of unhealthy smog levels.
City spokesperson Ric Barrick said the findings of the report only reflect the presence of smog, not the production of smog in the City.
"We are in an unfortunate geographic position in that we hang on to more pollution," he said. "We are living with the bad air produced by other areas."
Barrick explained that winds transfer pollutants produced from cities northwest and south of Charlottesville to the City, and nearby mountain ranges trap these pollutants in the area. "We have done a number of things legislatively to reduce pollution around the state, and we have been active to make sure our leg in D.C. supports aggressive restrictions on plants that do pollute," he said. The City's local measures include a public education campaign to encourage walking or biking rather than driving, establishing a carpool initiative and switching some City busses to hybrid engines.
"We have a history of being rather environmentally accountable and green oriented," he said.
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