Published: Aug. 9, 2006
Source: Office of Public Affairs
During hot summer days, many summertime activities — road trips, lawn mowing, boating — can add to the air pollutants already around from traffic, power plants and industrial facilities. When air pollutants interact with the heat and strong sunlight, they can produce unhealthy ground-level ozone, or smog, just when people want to spend time outside.
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Air quality forecasts for the region are issued each day based on the Air Quality Index, or AQI, an Environmental Protection Agency formula that measures air pollution. The color-coded categories include green (good), yellow (moderate), orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups), red (unhealthy) and purple (very unhealthy).
On Code Red or Purple days, information is provided to county residents through the media, the county Web site and Fairfax County Government’s Channel 16. Messages also are sent to those who have signed up for Fairfax County’s Community Emergency Alert Network or CEAN; you can sign up at https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/cean/.
On Code Red days the Fairfax Connector provides free rides.
As part of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Environmental Agenda: “Environmental Excellence for Fairfax County: A 20-year Vision,” Fairfax County Government has taken actions in a variety of areas to improve air quality. It leads the region in purchasing hybrid cars to replace older county cars. It is the first jurisdiction to reach — and then exceed — the regional goal set by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to have 20 percent of the area’s eligible workforce teleworking one day per week. The school bus fleet is the first in the region to be completely retrofitted with pollution-reducing technology, and diesel retrofits for county trucks and buses are underway. The county also uses environmentally friendly water-based paint instead of oil-based.
Fairfax County also has taken innovative steps. It is the first in the state to purchase wind energy. Through a two-year joint contract with Arlington County, Fairfax will purchase 5 percent of its total energy from wind sources. One of the county’s first green building projects, the Fairfax Center Fire Station, opened recently near the Fairfax County Government Center. It is part of a county pilot program for green building techniques. Construction is expected to start soon on another green building, the Crosspointe Fire Station in Lorton.
Further information on air quality, including daily Air Quality Index forecasts, is available at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/airquality.