Butler County isn't named in a recent air quality report that condemns Pittsburgh area air, but experts say county residents still have reason to care.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection operates air quality monitors scattered throughout the state in dense population areas and air basins. It doesn't have one in Butler County, so the American Lung Association doesn't list specific data for the county in its annual air quality report.

However, that report, which was released Wednesday, issues air quality grades for several counties surrounding Butler County, giving a picture of how lungs in the community might be faring.

Kevin Stewart, director of environmental health for advocacy and public policy at the lung association, said he couldn't speculate about Butler County's actual scores. However, he said residents should look west and northwest for an indication.

Wind patterns suggest that Butler air might be coming from counties such as Beaver, Lawrence and Mercer. In the studied period, all three of those counties experienced at least one day in which the air quality went over levels that can cause medical problems for some people, such as those with asthma, children and the elderly.

“It's important to understand that even one bad air day can be one bad air day too many for someone in a high-risk group,” Stewart said. “There are people who, if exposed, could certainly need medication, a trip to the doctor or even to the emergency room.”

Butler County shares a southern border with a county that garnered the most attention nationally in the new lung association report: Allegheny County. Pittsburgh air is the only air in the nation outside of California, whose metropolises produce the nation's worst air pollution, that posted failing grades in all metrics.

“You're certainly not immune from Allegheny County,” Stewart said. “Certainly, some days that's part of your air pollution mix.”

Pittsburgh's mix of industry and a dense population, along with a flow of already poor air from the Midwest, create a uniquely potent area for air pollution, Stewart explained.

There is good news for those in the area. The air has gotten better.

Advocacy organizations, such as the Pittsburgh-based GASP (Group Against Smog and Pollution), hope more attention given to air quality can further improve breathing in the area. GASP's executive director, Rachel Filippini, said it helps just having people know that air quality ratings are something they can check and plan around.

“Just being aware of air quality is a good thing,” Filippini said. “Be aware of the monitoring data in terms of, 'Is it going to be an air quality action day?' If it is, take steps to reduce exposure.”

Both Filippini and Stewart recommend reducing strenuous outdoor exercise on days when gauges say the air quality isn't so good. Stewart recommends using the Environmental Protection Agency's website AirNow.gov to check the day's air quality and plan around it.

Filippini said Butler County has its own share of pollutant-producing industries that might affect the area's air quality. Ten businesses in the county have Title V operating permits, a type of permit required for commercial practices that produce air pollutants. Those are AK Steel in Butler Township; Alcoa Commercial Windows, Cranberry Township; Armstrong Cement and Supply, Winfield Township; BNZ Materials, Zelienople; Calumet Penreco, Karns City; Mercer Lime, Slippery Rock Township; Seneca Landfill, Jackson Township; Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock; Sonneborn, Petrolia; and Waste Management, Clay Township.

Another 13 synthetic minor operating permits are possessed throughout the county for companies that produce pollutants within certain other restrictions. Eagle Printing Co., which publishes the Butler Eagle, is included in that list.

GASP is encouraging people concerned with air quality to attend a hearing at 1 p.m. May 13 at the DEP's Southwest Regional Office at 400 Waterfront Drive in Pittsburgh. The hearing is for proposed fee increases for Title V operating permits that will fund engineer positions to handle such permits.

The fee increases are needed, Filippini argues, because the DEP hasn't had the manpower to overcome a backlog in permits. GASP estimates that 25 percent of the southwest region's major air pollution sources are either without a permit or still operating on an expired permit due to a lack of permitting personnel at the region's DEP office.

“We want to see our region have healthy air,” Filippini said.