Air Quality

The entirety of the Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia regions are experiencing air quality that is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups by federal agencies, and some areas are considered harmful for everyone.According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) AirNow website, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Kingsport was 128 as of 3 p.m. Monday. An AQI between 101-150 is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups.The site attributes the poor air quality to smoke from the ongoing Canadian wildfires.