U.S. EPA says San Joaquin Valley air basin meets some pollution standards

SAN FRANCISCO
September 25, 2008 7:49am

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it has redesignated the San Joaquin Valley air basin to “attainment” for the national ambient air quality standard for coarse particulate matter, called PM-10.

It has also approved a PM-10 maintenance plan for the eight-county area between Bakersfield and Stockton.

In doing so, the EPA also sliced out of the San Joaquin Valley area the eastern portion of Kern County, a largely desert area that has not met the federal standards for dust and other particulate matter.

“The EPA remains committed to the emission controls, enforcement and monitoring requirements currently in place in the San Joaquin Valley,” says Deborah Jordan, air division director for the U.S. EPA’s Pacific Southwest region in a written statement Thursday. “In addition to the current controls, many additional reductions will be needed to attain the more protective PM 2.5 standard and the ozone standard.”

The maintenance plan retains all PM-10 controls and monitoring for the San Joaquin Valley air basin and provides for contingency measures if the area does not continue to attain.

Not everyone is happy with the EPA decision.

“EPA's decision, however, comes in the face of dozens of exceedances of the national standards in the southern portion of the Valley. EPA previously announced that it could ignore these bad air days under the Clean Air Act, a decision that is currently being challenged in federal court,” says a press release from the groups Earthustice, the Sierra Club and Medical Advocate for Healthy Air in Fresno.

The groups say the EPA decision in effect sweeps the valley's dust problems under the rug.

"EPA's announcement today is a farce," says Earthjustice attorney Paul Cort. "Valley residents know they are breathing unhealthy air, they can see it. Yet EPA and the District are patting each other on the back for a job well done."

Kevin Hall from the Tehipite Chapter of the Sierra Club adds, "We know there's a problem. Controls on agriculture are available to prevent these problems. This decision today is ludicrous and is yet another example of the Bush Administration protecting industry at the expense of the public."

Particulate matter (PM) pollution is a complex mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets. It’s made up of a number of components, including acids, organic chemicals, metals, and soil or dust particles.

The size of particles is directly linked to their potential for causing health problems. The EPA is concerned about particles 10 micrometers in diameter or smaller because those are the particles that generally pass through the throat and nose and enter the lungs. Once inhaled, these particles can affect the heart and lungs and cause serious health effects.