Though Tooele Valley’s air quality is generally better than the Wasatch Front’s, recent data shows that winter inversions here could have the valley seeing “red” according to the Utah Division of Air Quality’s system of colored warnings.

During the week of Jan. 19 through Jan. 24, air quality in the Tooele Valley exceeded the Environmental Protection Agency’s revised standards for fine particle pollution on five of six days. All five of those days would have qualified as red days if the colored-warnings system were in place locally.

The air was worst on Jan. 22, when real-time monitor data showed the 24-hour average for PM 2.5 at 74.7 micrograms per cubic meter. In comparison, filter data from an air monitoring station at 1675 S. 600 East in Salt Lake City measured only 72 micrograms per cubic meter for the same day.

According to Jeff Coombs, environmental health director for the Tooele County Department of Health, the No. 1 factor contributing to the bad air is weather.

“You get a warm layer trapped by a cold layer, and then you get a big high-pressure system so you get very little movement,” he said. “The pollutants don’t move around and they don’t get blown out. The longer that inversion persists, the worse the pollution persists.”

In addition, cars, industry, fireplaces and wood-burning stoves also contribute to the pollution.

Coombs said the air isn’t getting worse, it just depends on the year and the weather pattern.

“This year was a bad year,” he said. “Typically you will get an inversion every winter and how bad that inversion is can differ from year to year.”

He added that January historically is the worst month for air quality, not just in the Tooele Valley, but around the state as well.

For Jan. 19 to Jan. 24, the average PM 2.5 24-hour reading for Tooele Valley, according to real time monitor data provided by Ken Symons, environmental scientist for the Utah Division of Air Quality, was 47.9 micrograms per cubic meter, with a high of 74.7 — more than double the federal standard — on the Jan. 22. That compares with an average of 57.2 for the same six days from the air monitoring station in Salt Lake City, with the highest reading coming in at 72, also on Jan. 22.

Bucky Whitehouse, public information officer with the Tooele County Health Department, said there is a system currently in place to notified schools when decreased air quality warrants possibly limiting outdoor activity.

“Anytime we get particulate matter that exceeds 35 micrograms we want to make sure schools are accommodating sensitive students and doing what they can to avoid outdoor physical activity,” he said.

He said sensitive students include those with asthma, cystic fibrosis and those with lung diseases or respiratory issues.

Coombs added if PM 2.5 exceeds 55, schools are asked to accommodate sensitive students and those students who experience respiratory issues, including coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. If the levels go as high as 90, it is recommended that all students be kept indoors.

Coombs believes a colored warning system should be in place in Tooele County.

“I think the state is working on that and I think that’s something we’ll see implemented in Tooele County in the future,” he said.

Whitehouse added the department wants people to become aware of no-burn days when people shouldn’t use their fireplaces and wood-burning stoves. Coombs said anybody can sign up with the Division of Air Quality for an alert where e-mail notifications are sent out regarding unhealthy air pollution levels.

“Wood-burning stoves are one source of pollutants for PM 2.5,” Whitehouse said. “We want to make sure they’re observing these dates and not burning if we have an inversion that’s causing the air quality to decrease.”

Tooele resident Walt Birkner is concerned about air quality in the valley.

“My concerns are just like everybody else,” he said. “It gets so bad here you can’t see and can’t breathe.”

The Tooele Valley in December was designated by the EPA as a nonattainment zone for PM 2.5 — not necessarily because of pollution in the valley, but because valley commuters contribute to pollution along the Wasatch Front.

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com