Natural Resources

Air Quality

The Clean Air Act of the Environmental Protection Administration identifies two types of national ambient air quality standards. Primary standards provide public health protection, including protecting the health of "sensitive" populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly. Secondary standards provide protection against decreased visibility and damage to animals, crops, vegetation, and buildings.  The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Air Monitoring Section operates the division’s statewide ambient air monitoring network for the measurement of EPA criteria pollutants- ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, as well as meteorological parameters such as wind speed and direction, temperature, barometric pressure, precipitation and solar radiation.  The two closest monitoring stations to the Windham Region can be found in the Towns of Bennington and Rutland.

Aside from national air quality standards, outdoor air pollution in significant concentrations can raise aesthetic and nuisance issues such as impairment of scenic visibility; unpleasant smoke or odors; atmospheric impacts to water quality; and can also pose human health problems, especially for more sensitive populations like children, asthma sufferers, and the elderly. The region’s air quality is impacted by both local and distant sources of air pollution. Local sources include discharges from industries, combustion of fuels for residential heating, and significantly from non-point sources such as automobile operation. As in other parts of New England, the topography, prevailing wind and weather patterns also bring air pollution to southeastern Vermont from other areas of the country.