Area residents voice concerns during clean air workshops
While there were many concerns and opinions presented during two public workshops presented Wednesday by the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District, attendees all agreed on one issue – that Valley residents deserve clean air to breathe.
The air district — created after the passage on July 26, 2017, of California Assembly Bill 617 — provides a community-focused action framework to reduce exposure to pollution within disadvantaged communities most a ected by air pollution, according to a press release. Both Calexico and Westmorland have been identified by the state of California as disadvantaged, or low-income, communities.
Pollution sources in Calexico include geothermal power generation, food processing, plaster manufacturing and other light industrial facilities, as well as vehicle emissions from tra c traveling through the international ports of entry, according to the California Air Resources board, with agriculture and the Salton Sea a major source of pollution in Westmorland.
A morning workshop — attended by 42 area residents and o cials — took place at the city of Calexico Council Chambers, while an afternoon workshop — with at least as many in attendance — was presented at the Westmorland Youth Hall.
“We have been asked [for] two communities to submit to the state of California for review to see if one of them would be accepted for this type of recognition,” Matt Dessert, air district air pollution control officer, said during the gathering in Westmorland.
“Then, if it is recognized, there is significant funding available from the state of California to come down and take a look at the community in much further detail. We will look at what kind of projects can be funded by the state to everyone’s benefit in the community regarding air pollution and health concerns.”
During the workshops, organizers presented information, discussed potential projects and received community feedback about air pollution sources and ways to mitigate it.
The biggest areas of concern voiced by attendees at the Westmorland workshop were vehicle emissions emanating from Mexicali — echoed at the Calexico workshop — and dust from the dried lakebeds, or playas, around the Salton Sea that can both trigger asthma symptoms.
“Why is the asthma rate going up?” asked Richard Ashurst, 70, a beekeeper, during the public comment portion of the meeting. “Why is pollution worse? I am a pilot, and I fly back and forth across the Valley a lot. As I am flying back and forth … it is pretty obvious” that a large portion of pollution emanates from Mexicali.
“What are you guys doing about Mexicali? What is the state doing about Mexicali sending all their air into here? What can we do about it? I think we are chasing ourselves by the tail, just going round and around spending a lot of money trying to get our air cleaner when the problem is right there” across the border.
The air district is addressing the pollution that breezes in from Mexico, said Reyes Romero, air district assistant air pollution control officer.
“The district is not denying that there is a problem of transport of emissions from Mexicali,” he said. “The purpose of AB 617 is not to address pollution from Mexico, it is to address the pollution that is generated in Imperial County. We are working with governing agencies in Mexico to help them to … clean up their pollution. Those are addressed in a different committee.”
Ashurst pointed out that asthma rates are increasing even though many regulations have been set in place to reduce air pollution on the U.S. side of the border. He asked whether the state would be better off repealing such regulations.
In response, Romero said, “It is not that things are getting worse, but what happened is that [emissions] standards are getting lower and lower. Those regulations are working.”
The workshop, Romero continued, was to discuss “things that we can do locally to reduce air pollution, not necessarily regulations. What we would like to hear from you, what are your concerns? Then you can suggest projects to reduce or mitigate that pollution and then we would ask [for] funding from the state to implement those programs.”
Ashurst said, in his opinion, that the entire exercise may be a waste of money, and compared it to promises by the state of California to restore the Salton Sea, something that has never come to fruition.
City of Brawley Council Member Sam Couchman said during the meeting that this program does help make air pollution projects possible.
“The only that I might say is that we are talking about projects here for your community with this kind of money,” he said.
“It is not necessarily a regulatory thing. It is more of a project type oriented funding. If you want an example of that, Brawley has been the recipient of some money from the [air district] in the past.”
He cited Volunteer Park in Brawley, where money from the air district in 2015 helped to pave dirt parking lots to prevent dust from kicking up during community events.
“If you look at that, it does make a great difference in the community of Brawley where dust is involved,” Couchman said. “When you get 200 people coming in there, driving their vehicles, all that type of thing, it does work very, very well.”
California is divided into Air Pollution Control Districts and Air Quality Management Districts that are county or regional governing authorities that have primary responsibility for controlling air pollution from stationary sources, according to the California Air Resources Board.
The overall goal of such air districts is to reduce harmful air emissions and to create a framework for community protection, according to a press release.
The local air district works with the Imperial County Board of Directors, city mayors, environmental group leaders and other stakeholders to promote pollution mitigation, according to the California Air Resources board.
Air pollutants can impact public health and can put the very young, the very old and those with certain pre-existing medical conditions at risk, according to the health department. Pollutants can cause breathing difficulties, asthma, lung damage, bronchitis, cancer, and brain and nervous system damage.
For more information about air quality, visit http://www.icphd.org/ be-prepared/air-quality/.
For more information about the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District, visit http://www. co.imperial.ca.us/AirPollution/.