Executive Summary
In 2014, the Town of Lakeview and Lake County (Lakeview area) prepared a PM Advance Plan in conjunction with DEQ. For the past six years, the Town and County have been implementing the plan and seeing the results of their efforts. Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the biggest concern in the Lakeview area due to smoke impacts from woodstoves, fireplaces and other wood burning appliances besides wildfire smoke in the summer. Other sources of PM2.5 include open burning, prescribed burning, smoke from industrial stacks, and some road dust (a small fraction of the dust is sized PM2.5) from vehicle travel and vehicle exhaust itself such as from diesel engines.
Monitoring
In recent years, monitoring showed that the Lakeview area struggled to meet the 24-hour PM2.5 standard. During the 2019-2020 season, when wildfire days are removed from the analysis, PM2.5 levels were well below the standard, with the 3-year average (2018-2020) is well below the 24-hour standard. Good air quality and relatively short air stagnation events combined with compliance of the no burn ordinances helped keep the concentrations of PM2.5 lower.
Key Strategies
To continue to meet the standard, the Lakeview area will need to maintain and enhance their key strategies of reducing PM2.5 from wood stoves, open burning, industrial operations and other sources of fine particulate matter. Compliance with their town and county ordinances and ongoing public outreach and education are critical to their success. These ordinances include the mandatory wood stove curtailment and open burning requirements. The implementation of these ordinances is ongoing.
For full details download the Lakeview Area PM Advance Program Action Plan – Update September 2021.