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Kingston air quality needs improvement

Apr 08, 2022 1:23 pm

MidHudson News reports that Bard College has been studying Kingston's air quality, and it could be better. Bard's air monitor was installed on the roof of the Andy Murphy Neighborhood Center on Broadway just before the COVID-19 pandemic began, said Bard Assistant Professor of Environmental and Urban Studies and Director of the Center for the Environment Sciences and Humanities. Elias Dueker. “There were observed reductions in air pollution during some parts of the COVID shutdown, but the reality is the cars are still going and in a place like Kingston, we still needed to heat our homes with oil and gas heat and we also have in Kingston, a growing and concerning number of woodburning establishments, both restaurants and in people’s homes,” he said. In 2021, the American Lung Association gave Dutchess County's air quality a grade of a D for high ozone days. High ozone days occur when pollution and weather create dangerously higher levels of ozone that can be harmful. Read more about this story at MidHudson News.