The haze and poor air quality Greenbelters woke up to on Wednesday took many by surprise. Wendy Young is an avid runner and had headed to Lake Artemesia that morning. A running partner texted her saying, “I hope you’re not running in this.” “In what?” she thought. “No one was really talking about it at that point,” said Young, who found Wednesday’s air quality crept in under the radar, while the focus was on Thursday when air quality reached code purple. Early Wednesday morning, she ran with a couple of friends and went home to shower and walk her dog before work. It was when she was walking about a quarter mile to her parking space that she started to feel physically ill and lightheaded.
At 8:36 a.m. the City of Greenbelt issued a code red warning for air quality. “There is currently a code red air quality for Greenbelt throughout the day due to wildfires in Canada. Everyone is advised to limit outdoor activity and close windows and doors; this is especially true for Greenbelters with high-risk factors, such as children, older Greenbelters and those with heart and respiratory conditions,” it read.
Prince George’s County Public Schools then cancelled outdoor activities, including recess, for the next two days.
Throughout the day, Young couldn’t get enough water and felt like something was in her throat. She researched the air quality online and found some alarming warnings. She decided that if the Air Quality Index (AQI) was over 100 people really shouldn’t be outside. (With a code red the AQI identifies air quality as “unhealthy” with an index value between 151-200, during a code purple it’s 200-300 and considered “very unhealthy”). On Thursday Young cancelled her planned evening run. The feeling of something in her throat and the need for water continued until Friday night, with some coughing. “It’s one of those things you don’t notice until you do,” she said of the effects of poor air quality. “It makes it scary.” Some people will have found it no big deal, she suspected, but she noted that her dog walker said he’d been feeling lightheaded and had a low-grade headache and she left a mask out for him.
Thursday: Code Purple
On Thursday the smoke was denser, and the code red warning was upgraded to a code purple. The Greenbelt Police Department opened its lobby to anyone needing a safe, healthy environment to escape the air quality conditions. The Greenbelt Recreation Department also offered spaces in the Community Center, Youth Center and Springhill Lake Recreation Center. Meanwhile Greenbelt’s outdoor pool closed out of concern for the safety of staff and patrons.
Friday: Code Orange
Friday brought a downgraded warning of code orange, during which Greenbelters with high-risk factors, including children, older Greenbelters and those with heart and respiratory conditions, were cautioned to limit outdoor activities when possible. The Greenbelt Recreation and Police Departments continued to offer space for those seeking refuge from air pollution, and the outdoor pool reopened.
Greenbelters Adapt
Groups planning outdoor events on Thursday cancelled or moved them inside. Some Greenbelt parents of toddlers cancelled their weekly meetup at the playground. Some kept children and pets indoors and others let children run outside in the evening, after a day spent indoors at school, though there was still a smell of smoke in the air.
Greenbelt Cub Scouts Pack 202 had their final pack meeting on Thursday evening, including a crossing over ceremony in which cubs cross from their current den to the next and the Arrow of Lights move from the pack over a ceremonial bridge to join their boy scout troop. The planned outdoor ceremony moved to the basement of the Community Church instead.
Buddy McLaughlin usually cycles about three miles to work from his home on Lakeside to Proteus Bikes four days a week, and on the fifth he runs there. The poor air quality didn’t impact his commute too much. He donned his N95 mask once more, which he said helped him to not inhale too much particulate. “I maybe rode a little slower than I usually do but I’m so used to living with a mask it almost didn’t affect me that much,” McLaughlin told the News Review. During the early months of covid, when much was still unknown, an unpublished study went viral – bikers and runners were spreading respiratory droplets as they passed people and McLaughlin got used to wearing a mask to avoid drawing the wrath of those he passed. After biking to work with a mask on for a year, and having found one that works with his glasses, he was unphased at using one during the air quality warnings. There was less traffic around the Lake, and business at the bike shop slowed down a little, but “it would take a big event for me to drive,” he said.
Dennis Fincham, the owner of the lawn and yard care company, Lawn & Order, works outside. “Thursday was really bad. Wednesday was bad, too. It felt like you were swallowing dirt,” he said of trying to work outdoors in the poor air quality. On Friday he was able to resume some work. “We followed the numbers,” he explained of his approach to the weather event. “Once it got over 275 we quit.” Fincham will be working additional hours this week to reschedule clients and make up for work he couldn’t finish last week. He fears this isn’t likely to be a one-off event for Greenbelt, though. “I don’t think that’s going to be it for the summer,” he told the News Review, “I think we’ll see more.”
By the time of press, the City of Greenbelt had not responded to inquiries about how Public Works adapted to the challenge of poor air quality.
