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Bangor named one of the cleanest cities for air pollution

A view of apartment buildings in downtown Bangor. A recent study found that most of Bangor's short-term rentals were found downtown or immediately adjacent to downtown.
Nick McCrea
/
BDN
A view of apartment buildings in downtown Bangor.

A new assessment of air pollution by the American Lung Association names Bangor as one of the cleanest cities in the country.

The Lung Association's 25th annual "state of the air" report, based on data from 2020-2022, said Bangor recorded low levels of ozone air pollution, year-round particle pollution and short-term particle pollution. The metro area has ranked among the cleanest cities for ozone for seven years in a row, and for its daily measure of particle pollution for the last 15 years.

The report found the Portland-Lewiston region showed positive results for short-term particle pollution, but saw a worsening of ozone pollution. Still, the year-round measure for the metro area set a new best-ever value, placing it among the nation’s 25 cleanest.

Kaitlyn Budion is Maine Public’s Bangor correspondent, joining the reporting team after several years working in print journalism.