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Press release:

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation at Albany has issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for Fine Particulates until midnight EDT tonight. Air quality levels in outdoor air are predicted to be greater than an Air Quality Index value of 100 for Fine Particulates. 

The

Genesee County,  remains under an air quality health advisory, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

The air quality seems to have improved over a significant portion of Western New York, but Genesee County and further east is still a hazardous area, according to the most recent report.

It was another grey, smoky day in Genesee County on Thursday, including along Route 20 in Bethany, as weather patterns again pushed smoke from wildfires in Canada into New York.

An air quality advisory is in place and is expected to remain in effect until midnight on Friday. 

The

The state Department of Environmental Conservation issued an Air Quality Health Advisory for several areas of the state, including Western New York counties  of Genesee, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara, Orleans, and Wyoming.

The DEC and Department of Health issues these advisories when meteorologists predict levels of pollution, either ozone or

Press release:

The New York State Department of Health recommends that with the reduced air quality, everyone should limit their outdoor activities to reduce exposure. Masks will be available to the public at the following locations in Genesee and Orleans Counties on Thursday, June 8th, 2023, during normal business hours

Press release:

The New York State Department of Health recommends that with the reduced air quality, everyone should limit his or her outdoor activities to reduce exposure. Masks will be available to the public at the following locations in Genesee and Orleans Counties during normal business hours while supplies last. 

If the smells wafting through your open windows have been tinged with burning embers more than tangy barbecue sauce Tuesday, they’re likely coming from wildfires raging through eastern Canada, and a rheumatology expert has five words of advice to keep in mind.

Even dairy farmers know how to turn lemons into lemonade.

Volunteers had to act quickly Wednesday to reconfigure their annual Kinderfarmin' event at Hildene Farm in Pavilion after air quality concerns caused superintendents at six of the eight scheduled schools to cancel field trips.

"Agriculture never stops," noted organizer Natasha Sutherland, and neither do kindergarteners. 

So this is what life has come to for much of upstate New York: checking the air quality reports every couple of days and having a good scientific expert on speed dial.

At least that’s how it is for The Batavian, with air levels reaching up past 150 for Western New York the last few days, signaling a red zone of “unhealthy.”

Statement from Batavia City School District Superintendent Jason Smith:

Dear BCSD Families and Community, 

As you may have seen on the news, experts believe the air quality issues we’ve been experiencing due to the fires in Canada will continue in the coming days. 

Therefore, all BCSD outdoor activities

The worst fire season on record in Canada, according to news reports, is causing a decline in air quality throughout large parts of the United States, including Western New York.

As a result, Batavia City Schools are canceling all outdoor activities for the rest of the day, on the advice

If you’re breathing a little easier with the downgraded air quality levels of late, Derek Mallia, assistant professor of atmospheric science at the University of Utah, has projections that may give pause for celebration.

Although the worst may be over, as far as high levels of particulate matter 2.5 are concerned, this region is not out of the woods just yet. So to speak.

“It could be a very intermittent, kind of smoky summer for areas in New York,” Mallia said during a phone interview Friday from Utah with The Batavian.

Photo by Alison Lang, on Goodman Road, Alexander, who noticed the juxtaposition of dense smoke hanging over Genesee County from Canadian wildfires and beef cattle in a field.

A Town of Batavia resident and business owner reiterated his objections Tuesday night to a proposed Genesee Biogas plant earmarked for the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park but, once again, project developers attempted to alleviate his concerns over the smell of its emissions.

Speaking at the Batavia Town Planning Board meeting at the Town Hall on West Main Street Road, Eric Biscaro questioned Lauren Toretta, president of CH4 Biogas, and Sara Gilbert of Pinewood Engineering, about the extent of the odor from the facility, which is set to be constructed on Ag Park Drive, not far away from Ellicott Street Road.

“If you go by O-AT-KA (Milk Products Cooperative) on lots of given days, the odor there is enough to … it’s bad,” Biscaro said. “So, it’s seems that it would be more intense at your place if you’re going to bring it over  from O-AT-KA and (HP) Hood

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Eastridge got on the board first, but it was all Batavia after that, as the Blue Devils went on to win a smoke-delayed, and then rain-delayed, Flag Football sectional semifinal playoff game on Friday at Van Detta Stadium.

The final: 27-6.