Prince George, B.C. –  There is encouraging  news on the  air quality in Prince George.

The latest report from the Provincial Ministry of the Environment  shows there is a distinct downward trend  in annual levels of fine particulates.  with most annual  averages  since  the mid 90’s being below the Provincial  targets.

While the  decline in  fine particulates  started with the  end of beehive burners,  there has been  a great deal of work done by industry and  PGAIR to manage sources of  fine particulates.  reductions in open burning,  use of  coarser materials for winter traction, and improved street cleaning, have all contributed to the  improvements in  air quality.

The graph above and at right, show a spike in  fine particulate, that  spike happened in 2010 and was the result of  active wildfires.  A similar spike can be expected this year, as Prince George  found itself under a  blanket of wildfire smoke several  days  over the summer.

The annual report also  shows   a significant decrease in the number of times the  provincial targets  for  fine particulates have been  exceeded.

For PM 10, there were 35 days in  1995 when the  24 hour average was above  the provincial target,   that had reduced to  8 in 2013.

For PM 2.5,  there were 25 days in 2004 which  saw the 24 hour rolling average exceed the provincial target,  and only  four such instances in 2013.

“We are never going to have an airshed where there  aren’t some levels of  fine particulate” says  Terry Robert  “There will always be  things that are beyond our control,  such as wildfires, but we can do what we can to reduce the industrial sources and the  human sources  to  reduce the number of times the  air quality exceeds the provincial standards.”