PORT ANGELES – No, the air quality in Port Angeles is not dangerous right now. It’s a faulty monitor that’s feeding bad data for air quality.
According to Olympic Regional Clean Air Agency Senior Air Monitoring Specialist Odelle Hadley, their air monitor in Port Angeles broke down on Saturday, and the data it was producing was the result of a broken monitor and not bad air quality. ORCAA has a technician on Monday to fix it and they hope it will begin transmitting accurate data later Monday.
The data prompted many people’s weather and air quality apps on their smart phones to activate warnings over the weekend.
In an email, Hadley said “air monitors, much like pets, like to get sick on weekends, holidays, and whenever I’m on vacation. We removed the Port Angeles site from the map as soon as we noticed it (Monday) morning.”
Hadley says a good back-up is to check the Purple Air map with the LRAPA correction applied. There are 3 purple air sensors within a few blocks of ORCAA’s Port Angeles monitor and they remained green over the weekend.