Clint Bowman from the state Department of Ecology gave a talk about airflow and air pollution in South Puget Sound. I wasn’t able to take notes on his talk, but I did catch the question and answer session:

Recently we saw a plane had to return to the airport and dump fuel Puget Sound. How does that impact air quality?

Fuel releases a hydrocarbon, but they have to dump fuel high enough that it will evaporate before it gets too low.

You would see and increase in hydrocarbons for an hour or so, but unlikely it would reach ground level.

Heather Trim, People for Puget Sound: What are the dirtiest and cleanest parts of Puget Sound?

Different areas have different sort of pollutants. For example, ozone is highest from Enumclaw to Pack Forest area.

Most of the air from urban centers comes down to South Sound. What kind of health impacts does that mean for people in South Sound?

The air in South Sound, except for Puyallup River valley, is good. Pollution does get high in the winter though.

We don’t have monitors for toxics though, which is focused on Seattle.