INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) issued an Air Quality Action Day for Friday, Aug. 4 for Central Indiana.
The alert day was extended to Southeast Indiana as well. Officials said air quality is expected to reach the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” or (orange) level.
IDEM forecast high ozone levels due to stagnant weather patterns across the area and the continued influence of air from the Canadian wildfires.
The affected regions included in the action day:
Central/East Central Indiana: Bloomington, Brookville, Columbus, Frankfort, Indianapolis, Greensburg, Kojomo, Lebanon, Martinsville, Muncie, Richmond and all other cities in the area.
Southeast Indiana: Brownsburg, Corydon, Jeffersonville, Madison, New Albany, Salem, Versailles and all other cities in the area.
A state map including regions and affected counties is available on the state’s Smog Watch website.
The action day is in effect from midnight to 11:59 p.m. Friday.
IDEM encouraged everyone to help improve air quality by making changes to daily habits on Air Quality Action Days by doing the following:
- Carpool or use public transportation.
- Avoid using the drive-through and combine errands into one trip.
- Turn off engines instead of idling for long periods of time.
- Avoid refueling your vehicle or using gas-powered equipment until after 7 p.m.
- Conserve energy by turning off lights and setting the air conditioner to a higher setting;
- Use propane gas instead of charcoal when grilling outdoors;
- REMINDER: Indiana’s open burning laws make it illegal to burn trash and generally prohibit open burning; more information is on their website.
