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<br />Page 5│Kittitas County Air Quality Survey│9/30/2014 <br /> <br />During the winter high heatfng season, air quality readings from the Washington State Department <br />of Ecology (DOE) monitoring statfon in Ellensburg reports one of the highest levels of PM2.5 air <br />pollutfon in the state.1 According to Washington State Department of Health, Kittitas County also <br />reports a significantly higher mortality rate for influenza and pneumonia as compared to the rest of <br />the state2. While we have yet to determine the cause of this, the statfstfc draws concern regarding <br />respiratory impacts related to poor air quality. In additfon, partfculate matter pollutfon created by <br />large area wildfires has increased over the past four years, adding to community health risks <br />associated with ongoing PM2.5 pollutfon. <br />For the past several years, Ellensburg’s number of days with unhealthy fine partfcle pollutfon levels <br />has risen, indicatfng a dangerous trend. Even without the contributfons from wildfires, the numbers <br />contfnue to rise, invitfng a closer look at what is contributfng to this steady increase in PM2.5 (see <br />Figure 2). According to the Environmental Protectfon Agency’s Natfonal Ambient Air Quality <br />Standards Review, Kittitas County is a high-risk community that is in danger of violatfng the federal <br />air quality standards4. If this trend contfnues, it is likely that Kittitas County could become an area of <br />“non-attainment”, invitfng costly and demanding federal interventfons. As it currently stands, the <br />combined impact on health and the environment is already costfng the community money. In a 2009 <br />report, Ecology created a model for estfmatfng health and economic impacts of fine partfcle <br />pollutfon in Washington5. Ecology’s model estfmates that the costs (direct and indirect) associated <br />with fine partfcle pollutfon in Kittitas County exceed $1 million each year (2009 dollars). <br />FIGURE 2: Unhealthy Air Days for Kittitas County3 <br />It should be <br />noted that <br />the last bar <br />is partial <br />year data, <br />nine months <br />instead of <br />twelve.