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Bad reputations seem to last forever, but Missoula may be a little closer to shedding its legacy as a bad-air town.

This week, the city-county Air Pollution Control Board asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency to acknowledge that Missoula no longer has a dust problem.

In legal terms, the board wants the EPA to redesignate the Missoula Valley from a PM-10 nonattainment area to attainment.

“We haven’t had a problem within the past 25 years,” said Health Department air specialist Sarah Coefield. “People assume we have bad air while in fact we have pretty darn good air around here now.”

Missoula first failed to meet federal air quality standards in 1990. PM-10 refers to particulate matter of 10 microns in diameter or smaller.

In the Missoula Valley, it mainly comes from road dust and the smoke from wood fires. The city’s surrounding mountains often trap stagnant air in the valley for days, leading to serious health complications for those with respiratory problems.

Years of effort removing poor-performing wood stoves, upgrading the quality of winter road traction sand and increased use of deicer and street sweepers have greatly reduced the city’s air pollution risk.