Public participation encouraged in air quality planning
CALEXICO — The public is encouraged to attend a meeting Sept. 13 in Calexico to help stakeholders develop and prioritize strategies to reduce air pollution in the border region.
The so-called work plan is in response to a recently-concluded two-year study that determined Calexico has the highest concentrations of particulate matter in the entire state.
The results of the binational study by the California Air Resources Board were presented Thursday during a meeting of the Imperial-Mexicali Air Quality Task Force.
“The overall goal to show this data is to get people to see that the things that they’re doing and the things that they’re burning produce these very harmful emissions,” said Elizabeth Melgoza, CARB air pollution specialist. “Although this is dire news, I think a lot of good things are starting to happen.”
The study also determined that air quality in Mexicali is considerably worse than in Calexico, and that concentrations of particulate matter tend to increase throughout the border region during November, December, January and February.
Motor vehicle emissions, fireworks, garbage burning and heavy industry all appear to be contributing to the relatively high concentrations of particulate matter in the border region.
“It’s mostly combustibles,” Melgoza said. “There’s a lot of dust sources in the area, so that contributes, too.”
The CARB study took place between April 2016 and April 2018 and had compiled data from two air quality monitoring stations in Mexicali and one in Calexico.
During the two-year period, the Calexico air monitoring station had recorded 11 days when fine particulate matter that is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM 2.5) exceeded the federally designated health standard of 35 micrograms per cubic meter over a 24-hour period.
In contrast, the Mexicali-based air monitoring sites, located at Colegio de Bachilleres del Estado de Baja California (COBACH) and Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (UABC) campuses, recorded 128 and 68 days, respectively, during the same timeframe.
It was not clear why the COBACH station had recorded nearly twice as many days of excessive PM 2.5 levels as the UABC station, Melgoza said.
Also, the study determined that high levels of PM 2.5 in Mexicali correlated with relatively high concentration levels in Calexico, and that Christmas Eve and Christmas accounted for the study’s highest recorded PM 2.5 concentration levels.
Although the study determined that elements such as lead, antimony, bromine, zinc were present within the air pollution, it did not determine the possible origins of the elements, a practice referred to as speciation.
“For me, it would be the most important thing to know besides (PM) concentration data,” said Margarito Quintero, state Secretaria de Proteccion Ambiente (environmental protection department) director planning and policy.
Quintero also stated that public Mexican Independence Day celebrations scheduled for Sept. 16 in Mexicali this year will utilize lightshows in place of fireworks, which contribute to air pollution.
“That is one of the few pieces of good news that I can share,” he said.
The nearly two-hour meeting was attended by representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Embassy in Tijuana, county Air Pollution Control District, the Mexicali-based advocacy organization OBSER BC, as well as environmental activist and Mexicali resident Ray Askins.
Askins was highly critical of Baja California officials’ efforts to curb air pollution and called on those at the meeting to help of promote a greater sense of urgency.
“The government has to change its attitude or nothing will happen,” he said.
Stakeholders are also hopeful the state will authorize the continuation of the air monitoring study by either December or January, Melgoza said.
A final report based on the two-year study is expected to be submitted to the state EPA by October, and shared with the regional task force soon afterward. The work plan that will be discussed Thursday will also be submitted to CARB in December, Melgoza said.
Next Thursday’s meeting will be held at the Camarena Memorial Library, 850 Encinas Ave., Calexico. Exact time to be determined.