A county in northern New Jersey that borders New York City has earned a failing grade for its poor air quality.
An annual reported released Wednesday by the American Lung Association found that Bergen County — which is across the Hudson River from New York City — logged the highest number of smog-choked days in the state over a period of three years, according to NorthJersey.com.
The report recorded 15 days of high ozone levels from 2019 to 2021 in the county, which is often snarled with high levels of car and bus traffic.
The county’s George Washington Bridge, which is the busiest suspension bridge in the world, carries more than 300,000 vehicles daily, the outlet noted.
The bustling New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 80 also pass through the county.
The smoggy days in Bergen County from 2019 to 2021 dropped compared to the three-year period from 2017 to 2019, when 24 days of elevated ozone levels were recorded.
Trenton’s Mercer County on the Pennsylvania border also earned a failing grade in the annual report with 10 days of high ozone days.
Other counties in the state had comparatively clean air quality, with Morris County and neighboring Warren County boasting zero days of high smog from 2019 to 2021.
The number of counties with failing air quality grades in New Jersey decreased from six to two since the period from 2017 to 2019 amid an improving trend nationwide, the report noted.
“A number of historically urban, industrialized eastern and midwestern states such as New Jersey, New York and Ohio, which dominated the list in the early years, are now getting all passing grades,” the report said.
