Rapid City issues Saturday air pollution alert

Rapid City, S.D. — With winds expected to pick up dramatically overnight, Rapid City’s Air Quality Office and the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources have issued an air pollution alert for the area west of The Gap. The alert begins at 3:00 a.m. Saturday and continues until 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. Northwesterly winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour, with gusts to 50 mph, are forecast.

City Environmental Planner Morgan Twombly advises the elderly, the very young, and anyone with respiratory problems to avoid too much physical exertion and to limit exposure. She also urged that gardeners and others who move soil refrain from doing so during the alert period. The city’s air quality office recommends that operations such as process equipment, waste pits, stockpiles, construction sites use water or chemical treatments to reduce dust and increase pollution control during the alert.

Rapid City has an air quality monitor on its website , or you can visit NC1.TV/AQI to see monitors for Rapid City and many other communities around the region.

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