ivcair.org - Our Opinion: Air quality in county still an ‘F’

Newsflash

Login Form

Latest News

Monday, May 5, 2008 10:49 PM PDT

Air quality in Imperial County has gotten better over the last decade, but not good enough to warrant a letter grade above “F,” according to the latest three-year study from the American Lung Association.

This is the third such “State of the Air” study the American Lung Association has done since its 1996-1998 study period. And while the numbers have been slightly better over each successive study, local air quality is still quite bad.

According to the ALA, asthma and asthma-related hospitalizations among children and adults is increasing despite improving particulate matter and ozone pollution.

A 2005 study (the last available data used by the ALA) found 21 percent of children in Imperial County are diagnosed with asthma, which is an increase over 2001 at 15 percent and 2003 at 10 percent.

That same study showed that children in Imperial County are 6.4 times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma than other children in the state. Adults had a rate of asthma hospitalization 10.8 for every 100,000 adults between 2001 and 2005. That stands in stark contrast to the state average of 4.5 hospitalizations.

The numbers are startling, and a bit depressing, but there is a semblance of hope. Particulate pollution, such as dust and soot, has not exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for healthy air since 2000-2002.

And while the number of unhealthy ozone days by EPA standards increased incrementally since 2003-2005, those days have otherwise been on a downward tract.

But more change needs to happen to reduce childhood and adult asthma rates, and it needs to be as soon as possible.

Among the largest culprits of the Valley’s unhealthy ozone levels is Mexicali, but it’s not the coal-burning plants, Imperial County Air Pollution Control District Officer Brad Poirez said. The big offender is the cars that sit in line at the ports of entry for as long as two hours idling and spewing carbon monoxide into the air.

That seems to be at least one portion of the problem locals can get a handle on and help in solving.

Calexico officials are doing much to reduce border wait times at the ports, but now they’ll have one more weapon in their arsenal — the fact that the wait times are affecting the health of Imperial County’s asthma sufferers.

Yes, things are getting better, even if slightly so, but much more work needs to be done to make the air quality here anything other than a failure.