The article “Eugene, Springfield air pollution ranks 4th worst in U.S.” is a bit misleading.

The American Lung Association’s website describes its methodology. It collects data from four air quality monitoring stations in Lane County in Eugene, Springfield, Cottage Grove and Oakridge. “The Lung Association calculates the county population at risk from these pollutants based on the population from the entire county where the monitor is located,” according to its website. “The Lung Association then calculates the metropolitan population at risk based upon the largest metropolitan area that contains that county.”

While this methodology might produce an accurate assessment of air quality in most parts of the country, Lane County is larger and more geographically diverse than most counties. While everyone in Lane County has experienced the increased presence of wildfire smoke in recent years, Oakridge has been more severely impacted than Eugene-Springfield because of its geography and proximity to fires.

By including Oakridge pollution data in county air quality and assigning that value to the metropolitan area, the rankings don’t accurately reflect the relative air quality in Eugene-Springfield.

Allen Hancock
Eugene