Virginians enjoyed air so clean in 2009 that it set a record. With the season for ozone—the main pollutant in smog—virtually over, the state has suffered just three high-ozone days. All three smoggy days occurred in Northern Virginia, which has a long reputation for cars and air pollution. In the Richmond area, ozone never exceeded the federal limit.

Environmentalists asked a Richmond Circuit Court judge yesterday to throw out state-issued permits for a coal-burning power plant in Wise County. Among other problems, the permits do not adequately control emissions of carbon dioxide and mercury, the environmentalists said during a three-hour hearing. The state Air Pollution Control Board issued two permits for the $1.8 billion Dominion Virginia Power plant in 2008.

The Richmond area is flunking tough new limits on ozone, the main pollutant in smog. That means the area will likely go back on the federal government’s list of smoggy regions when the new list comes out next year, state officials say. Regions on the dirty-air list have to reduce ozone levels. Among other requirements, new and expanding industries face tougher pollution controls than those outside the smoggy region.

A risk analysis based on a nearly three-year air quality study in Hopewell will be released later this year, Department of Environmental Quality officials said last night during a public meeting at the Hopewell School Board Office. Testing of toxic air pollutants in the industrial city will conclude June 30. The risk analysis is expected to be released in November or December, said Chuck Turner, director of the DEQ’s office of air quality monitoring.