MI looks at 2023 air quality [Video]

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Officials with the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy have issued their “Year in Review” for 2023–and they’re hoping to bridge the gap between the community and the work they do.

In 2023, there were more than 2,500 quality complaints with about 800 company inspections, followed by around 350 violations sent out.

Jennifer Dixon, the Air Quality Division‘s Planning and Policy Coordinator, said those numbers are on par for a regular year, but only part of what they do.

But something that officials say they have never dealt with before was the Canadian wildfire smoke that blanketed the state in 2023.

“What was unusual about last year was typically, the Canadian wildfires are in the very western part of Canada, those provinces out there in the mountains,” said Jim Haywood, Senior Meteorologist in the Air Quality Division. “And by the time that it gets to us, if it does get to us, it’s usually very high up in …