Cuyahoga, Summit, and Stark counties all got Fs in this year's air quality rankings, with Cleveland rated as the 6th most polluted spot in the country. Portage, Lorain and Lake squeezed by with Cs and Ds on the Lung Association's list which measures the amount of fine particle pollution or soot in the air. On the other hand, there has been some improvement in smog or ozone levels, according to Amy Wainwright of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (or NOACA), the trouble is, "particle pollution" is a much more life-threatening.
Amy Wainwright: So if people feel they want to do something active for air pollution: if they can think of alternative modes of transportation, whether it's taking the bus or the train... whether it's buying a hybrid automobile... Whether it's riding their bicycle... whether it's telecommuting... These are things that they can do that make a difference.
Wainwright says her agency will unveil an action plan for particle pollution, in the next couple months. David C. Barnett, 90.3.