Prince George, B.C. –  The first air quality advisory of 2012 went into effect late yesterday afternoon and is likely to remain in place until at least tomorrow morning…

The Ministry of Environment’s Air Pollution Manager issued the advisory due to a high level of fine particulates.  Dennis Fudge says a stagnant upper high pressure weather system over the region trapped pollutants in the airshed yesterday.  He says the situation could improve by late this afternoon.

Fudge says based on air quality data, the high levels of fine particulates are mainly due to a combination of wood smoke, emissions from industry and road dust.

While the provincial air quality objective for fine particulates is 25 micrograms/m³, the 24-hour rolling average was 41 at the Plaza 400 downtown site, and 26 at College Heights as of 8am this morning.

The provincial objective for coarse particulates is 50 micrograms/m³, and the 24-hour averages locally were: 72 at the Plaza 400, 38 at College Heights, and 52 at the BCR monitoring site.

The air quality advisory prohibits recreational fires, street sweeping activities and bans the use of wood-burning appliances, except for sole wood-burning heat users.