• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

DNR issues air quality warnings this winter

MILWAUKEE (AP) – The state Department of Natural Resources has issued numerous air pollution warnings this winter, but not many people heard about them.

So far this winter, all but one of the warnings were issued because the air quality index was labeled “orange,” which is considered unhealthy for people with heart and lung ailments.

But in December, the state Department of Natural Resources concluded that the air quality index was “red” on Dec. 20 and 21 for Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Jefferson and Dane counties. The agency recommended that even healthy people should cut back or reschedule strenuous activities.

The DNR issued the red alert by e-mail to subscribers who want such updates from the agency. It also sent the information to the National Weather Service.

In the end, the alert got little attention from local media outlets.

Besides Wisconsin Public Radio, no other news organization in metropolitan Milwaukee, reported on the warning, according to the DNR.

Dona Wininsky, director of public policy and communication of the American Lung Association of Wisconsin, said her organization and other groups must work more closely with the DNR to get the word out.

Kevin Kessler of the DNR agreed and said the agency might have to rethink how it will notify the public in the future.

“We need to learn from our experience,” said Kessler, director of air and waste management.

In December 2007, there were 40 instances in Wisconsin, in which air monitors showed that fine particles collected over 24 hours exceeded a federal standard.

The worst period of high particle readings took place in late January and February 2005, when there were 78 such instances, according to DNR records.