The summer of 2017 was the cleanest ground-level ozone season in Virginia in at least 20 years, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
"We have made tremendous improvements in Virginia's air quality in the past two decades," DEQ Director David K. Paylor said in a statement. "Though we still have work to do to ensure that our air remains clean, the progress we have seen so far is a great benefit to all Virginians."
Paylor said the trend for air quality in Virginia has been one of steady improvement. Pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and particles have shown consistent declines for 20 years or more. Emissions of these pollutants have decreased by nearly 60 percent in the past 20 years.
