The "And...Lancaster County Is Supposed To Be A Great Place To Retire" Story

Recent chart from the Lancaster Newspaper

It was an ordinary day.  Sneezing and blowing my nose continuously.  I recently had a cold, but thought it had passed a week or two ago.  So why does my runny nose continue?  Ah, after picking up the morning paper I found the reason.  Seems that Lancaster County is leading the State in poor air quality.  Not only the State of Pennsylvania, but it has more soot and smog than New York; Newark and Jersey City, New Jersey; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Cambridge, Newton, Massachusetts; and the Washington DC-Arlington-Alexandria areas.  

Power plants are one polluter of the air.

How can that be with all the idyllic fields and streams on acre after acre without all the hi-rises and big city traffic.  Well, it be!  The report is based on the year 2018 which is their latest facts and figures they have.  Can't imagine how bad in may have been last year.  The report is based on the number of days in 2018 with elevated levels of smog, soot or both.  So just what are smog and soot.  Ozone, which in its visible form is called smog is one while the other is particulate matter which is known as soot.  Lancaster ranked worse in soot.  Seems that one or both of the categories were elevated in 119 days of the year which is almost a third of the year.  105 of the days we had an excess of soot while 36 days we had too much smog.  Actually, Lancaster did better than the year before when they showed 179 days of the year with elevated levels in both.  But, I guess we can count on going in the wrong direction next year, since the National Clean Air Act is further endangering air quality by dismantling protections that had been in place before our latest President arrived.  The latest study was conducted by the PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group.  The American Lung Association also issues a report, but that is only every three years.  

The waste from these animals is spread on the crops
to make it grow better.  It is hazardous.

The most recent one was 2015-16 so we have another year to wait for that study.  But, their last report showed that Lancaster county and Johnstown area are tied for the 15th worst particle pollution in the country.  The report did show improvement over the past two decades due in part to federal efforts to bring down emissions from power plants and industrial boilers.  Both studies are based on an Air Quality Index scale color coded from green (good) to maroon (hazardous).  If you happened to fall in the yellow, or hazardous, areas, you should limit outdoor exertion on days when the air quality is hazardous.  The most recent day in Lancaster County when the air was considered hazardous in the PennEnvironment study was January 25.  So, why is our air quality so poor being that we aren't a huge city with all those cars emitting fumes.  Seems that some sources of pollution are no fault of our own.  Bad air drifts eastward into Lancaster County from power plants and metropolitan areas upwind.  But, Lancaster certainly isn't blameless.  We generate plenty of bad air from industries, power plants all up and downtime the Susquehanna River and home and agriculture.  Yep, all those chemicals and animal manure that Lancaster County farmers use on their fields leads to poor air quality.  And, you do know that Lancaster is known as the "Garden Spot of America" due to all the farmland we have in the county.  

The manure they spread as well as other chemicals
that are used to help the crops grow can be hazardous.

Bad air can increase the risk and incidence of asthma and other breathing problems.  And, the risks are greater for children and old people like me.  That information came from the chairman of nearby Millersville University's nursing department and member of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments.  And, they certainly should know.  Here's hoping the farmers keep the manure from the streams and is careful with the herbicides they use to kill the insects that eat their crops.  But, will it ever change.  It better!  That's the only way I'm going to be able to stop blowing my nose!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.