As she held her newborn son in her arms, Erin Mendenhall listened to a news report that told her Salt Lake City’s poor air quality could potentially take years off his life.
For the first time, she began to doubt the choice to raise her family here, in a state that has struggled to meet federal limits for ozone (an airborne pollutant that is particularly harmful to children) and in a city that is frequently shrouded by inversion.
“My first thought was, ‘I have to move; I have to choose between Salt Lake City and my son’s health,’” Mendenhall, a Salt Lake City councilwoman, recounted Sunday afternoon.