Smog no longer an issue in Ottawa Valley after coal plant closures

Remember the last time there was a smog advisory in the Ottawa Valley?

You'd have to go back to 2014. There were none last yearand none so far thisyear.

Things weren't so nice about a decade ago, before Ontario closed all of itscoal-fired power generation plants (the last, in Thunder Bay, closed in 2014).

In 2005 there were 25 smog advisory days in the Ottawa area and53 across Ontario. By 2009there were just four smog advisoriesin the valley. And by 2013, there was only one such advisory.

"This is a huge achievement. It's a good news story for the environment," saidPaul Parker, a faculty of environmentprofessor atthe University of Waterloo, onCBC Radio'sOttawa Morningon Monday.

"On our poor days, half of the pollution comes in from the U.S., and then we were adding on top of it. So what we've done is we've dramatically reduced what we added on top of it, and so that keeps us below the worst thresholds."

Vehicles and small engines for lawnmowers, leafblowers and the like contribute most towhat remaining pollution exists in our region, along with pollution from the United States.

Parker says a focus on switchinggas-powered small enginesto electric ones would be a good next step for the province to reduce pollution even further.