County air earns failing grade By
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, Staff Writer
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FILE PHOTO
A variety of factors can affect air quality, including power plants,
burning fields, auto exhaust fumes and dust common to the desert.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 11:01 PM PDT
Air
quality in Imperial County is poor, but it’s getting better, at least
that was the message given by local American Lung Association officials
Wednesday.
The American Lung Association’s annual state of the air report gives Imperial County an “F” for air quality.
“Even
though we did receive an ‘F,’ we are doing better,” Monique Lopez, a
spokeswoman for the local chapter of the American Lung Association,
said Wednesday.
Imperial
County was one of 26 counties statewide that received a failing grade
from the American Lung Association. The counties received the grades
due to either high ozone days or particle pollution days during a
three-year period from 2004 to 2006.
Only 19 counties in California received “A” grades.
For Imperial County, its number of unhealthy ozone days from 2004 to 2006 was 8.3. Four days and above is considered unhealthy.
The 8.3-day designation is an increase from the 7.3 days in the
previous period from 2003 to 2005. However, it’s more than four times
less than the 1996-1998 average of 35.7 days.
Brad
Poirez, Imperial County Air Pollution Control District officer, said
one of the main reasons the county’s air quality is so poor is mostly
because of pollutants coming from cars and tail pipe emissions.
One of the culprits from the cars comes from across the border as cars sit waiting sometimes hours on end at the ports of entry.
Poirez did say it would be false to say air pollutants coming from
Mexicali were a major cause of the poor air quality in Imperial County.
He did, however, say that pollutants from Mexicali could have an effect, but not an extreme effect.
He also said the Imperial Irrigation District’s power plants are some of the largest sources of pollutants.
Also, he dispelled the notion that agriculture field burnings had a major affect on air quality.
“I’d say it’s less than 2 percent,” he said of particulate matter from the burning fields.
He
also said that because of state requirements the county could not force
an outright ban on field burning, but because of state legislation
passed in 2000, field requirements are stricter than they’ve ever been.
He
also said the number of field burnings has been reduced by about 60
percent in the past 10 years as only three major crops — wheat, Bermuda
grass and Sudan grass — are burnt annually.
Lopez said the American Lung Association’s grade and the county’s improved air quality are a step in the right direction.
“We want to deliver a message of hope and a message of solutions,” she said.
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