Detailed Update on Eastern Washington Air Quality

As of Thursday, September 27th:

An update on air conditions in the Wenatchee area:

The high pressure inversion has returned, though not as bad as it has been.  A pressure inversion acts kind of like the lid on a pot…it is keeping all the stagnant air and smoke in.  The current air quality in Wenatchee is over 200 micro particles per cubic meter (ug/m3).  That is well below the 700 to 980 ug/m3 we have had for the past 2 weeks.  It is now listed as harmful rather than hazardous.  Chelan is about 1,000 feet higher in elevation than Wenatchee, so the air there is much better, but most attending the meetings will have to drive through the smoke.  It does not look like this inversion will clear until the end of next week. 

You start seeing the smoke around Cle Elum to the east or Moses Lake to the west.  The smoke here in Wenatchee is coming mostly from the Peavine Complex fire near Mission Ridge.  The second big fire (the Table Mountain Complex) is between the Ellensburg side of Mission Ridge and US-97 (Blewett Pass).  There are intermittent traffic delays on the Blewett Pass highway (on the Cle Elum side) as the fire crews back burn near the highway.   The third fire is in the Mission Creek drainage (the Poison Creek Fire) and is funneling a lot of smoke down the canyon straight into Cashmere.  The 4^th, the Wenatchee Complex, fire is mostly contained and is in the mop up stage. 

Monitor the air quality updates here: 

• Updates on WFC conference webpage: http://www.wafoodcoalition.org/conference-2012
• Department of Ecology air monitoring site: https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/
• Chelan-Douglas Health District site: http://www.cdhd.wa.gov
• Campbell's Resort webcam: http://www.campbellsresort.com/webcam

From Northwest Harvest: Advocates Update

Advocates Update Wednesday, September 26         IN THIS ISSUE UPCOMING EVENTS Farm Bill Expires Sept. 30 Thank you!   UPCOMING EVENTS    October 3 - 5 Washington Food Coalition Annual Conference      Campbell's Resort, Chelan.  wafoodcoalition.org /conference-2012   Northwest Harvest PO Box 12272 Seattle, Washington 98102 800-722-6924 Your Weekly Action Alert: Farm Bill Expires September 30 Without New Legislation Congress adjourned for the November elections without passing a Farm Bill. Versions of the Farm Bill that make deep cuts to our nation's food stamp program may be revisited when Congress returns on November 13.  Read more...  Take Action: Here at Northwest Harvest we applaud each of you who helped us with our "Fill Household Pantries First!" campaign, where we faxed handwritten messages from food bank volunteers, staff, and customers telling members of our Congressional delegation what the deep cuts proposed to SNAP in the Farm Bill proposals would do to people here in Washington. We faxed or hand delivered your messages to every member of our Congressional delegation. Any messages that you collect for us to send will be saved until Congress returns in November if it retakes up discussion on the Farm Bill.  In the meantime, what can we do until Congress comes back in November?Keep current: Read our blog and our updates for any important information from ongoing Farm Bill discussions. Stay informed: Read newspaper articles talking about the impact of delaying the Farm Bill. Stay vigilant: We can still continue the fight to protect SNAP from cuts in the Farm Bill. Please consider contacting your U.S. Representative and ask them to co-sponsor H. Res. 760 which urges the House to oppose the $16.5 billion in cuts to SNAP proposed in the House Agriculture Committee's Farm Bill. You can find the full text of the resolution here and a list of the current co-sponsors here. Currently, Rep. Jim McDermott is the only co-sponsor listed from Washington. If you live in Rep. McDermott's district, please email him a thank you for his taking a leadership role in opposing these cuts. Find your Representative here.    The mission of Northwest Harvest is to provide nutritious food to hungry people statewide in a manner that respects their dignity, while fighting to eliminate hunger.  Our vision is that ample nutritious food is available to everyone in Washington state.