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Last Gasp - A Fresno Bee Special Report on Valley Air

Published in the Fresno Bee on 12/15/02

Associated Press
August 10, 2002

Smog Clouds San Joaquin Valley
By BRIAN MELLEY; Associated Press Writer

The San Joaquin Valley, a stretch of land cultivated to feed a nation and subdivided for a swelling population, is shrouded in a layer of smog that can literally take your breath away.

"You step out the door and you hit a brick wall and stop breathing," said Judy Terry, a 54-year-old asthmatic who stays indoors most days and keeps a purse full of inhalants within reach.

Smog is a fact of life in the 240-mile valley, which stretches from Stockton, 80 miles east of San Francisco, to Bakersfield, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles. And as the problem lingers, so does a debate over how much of the pollution originates in the valley and how much drifts there from the San Francisco Bay area.

Much of the smog problem in America's most productive farm region is simply a function of its unusual geography and climate.
Hemmed in by mountain ranges, the valley's bowl-like topography traps pollution. Long, hot summers, perfect for growing crops, also transform car exhaust, manure gases and other emissions into a smoggy soup.

In winter, smoke spews from chimneys and from bonfires lit to clear vineyards and orchards.

Nationwide, the only place with dirtier air is Los Angeles. The American Lung Association ranked three San Joaquin Valley areas directly behind the L.A. air basin among the nation's smoggiest places.

The valley is home to the state's highest levels of childhood asthma. A survey by the University of California, Los Angeles, found that 16.4 percent of children in Fresno County had asthma, nearly twice the state average.

The problem is so severe that local leaders have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to label the area an "extreme" violator of smog standards. The move would delay federal sanctions for five more years, but also force polluters to shell out money for "pollution credits" in accordance with their level of emissions.

Between 1999 and 2001, the valley violated the national smog level standard 90 times.

"The situation hasn't improved there - it's continued to deteriorate," said Lisa Fasano, an EPA spokeswoman. "Action must be taken now to bring clean air to the citizens of the valley."

Many valley residents place the blame on smog from the San Francisco area that drifts east with the prevailing winds. Nate Moehlman, a private pilot from Fresno, said that he can follow a path of "gunk" through the air from the Bay area to Bakersfield.
A report by the California Air Resources Board found pollution from the Bay area accounts for up to 27 percent of the smog in the northern part of the valley and about 10 percent in the southern reaches.

Valley politicians and air officials have been spearheading lawsuits and legislation to require Bay area cars to undergo the stiff auto emissions tests required in every other urban area of California. An exemption written into state law by a local lawmaker has allowed the area to escape the requirement.

"You have the greenest, wealthiest area dumping pollution into one of the poorest areas," said Bruce Nilles, a former lawyer for Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, who has worked toward improving air quality in the San Joaquin Valley.

Still, many in the valley concede that most of problem comes from the valley's own vehicles, farms and industries. Agriculture accounts for most of the soot in the valley, along with more than a quarter of the smog, according to the air resources board.

Also, some in the valley have benefited from a pollution law exemption of their own. Farms and some oil operations have been exempted from state clean air laws, and there has been little political will to change that, said San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District spokeswoman Josette Merced Bello.

In response to a lawsuit filed against the EPA by Earthjustice, the agency agreed to require federal pollution permits for farms in the valley until the farm exemption is removed.

The finger-pointing has created political tensions between the industrial farm region and the cities by the bay.

The bill to require Bay area residents to pass the stiffer auto-emissions test passed overwhelmingly in the state Assembly in May and cleared a key Senate committee Tuesday.

But Assemblywoman Carole Migden of San Francisco says the legislation is not supported by science and is motivated by "an irresistible impulse to pick on the Bay Area."

The enhanced vehicle emissions checks would cost most Bay area motorists about $10, but much more for cars that need repairs to meet the standard.

Even if the legislation is passed, it is only expected to make a small dent in the problem. The valley needs to remove about 300 tons of pollution, a third of its daily total, to meet federal standards. Ending the exemption would eliminate an estimated 27 tons of pollutants.

The air district says it has eliminated about half the pollution from industries it regulates, but has no power to police emissions from cars and other vehicles - the single largest source of smog.
Sam Armentrout, the air board chairman, says the solution lies in improving public transit.

"I'm one of those bad guys the environmentalists point their fingers at and say we have to get out of our SUVs," said Armentrout, who commutes 60 miles a day. "They're right."

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