• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Valley Air Quality Is Worse Than Reported, by Bruce Frohman

December 19, 2013 By Bruce Frohman 3 Comments

 

Local Air Pollution?
Local Air Pollution?

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) recently reported that air quality in the Central Valley improved this past year to the level of attainment of federal air quality standards. At the measuring stations, this is true. But what about parts of the Great Valley not adjacent to stations?   

If your residence or business isn’t located near a monitoring station, your daily air quality could be a lot worse than the reports show for the region. On any given day, the air where you are may be unhealthful. The monitoring stations don’t have the capability of tracking air quality in every part of the valley.  

For example, people burn wood in their homes. When the air is stagnant, smoke accumulates in quantities harmful to the elderly and people with respiratory problems. Inhaling the smoke may be comparable to consuming up to several packages of cigarettes per day.   

An Anecdote 

This writer’s brother and family are being forced out of the Valley because he and his two children can no longer stand the harmful effects of the air pollution in his area. In his Stockton home, which is not near a monitoring station, his kids are developing asthma and skin rashes from particulate matter in the air. Next month, the family is moving out of the Valley and cited the poor air quality as the reason.  

As this writer types on a December night, he is coughing from smoke in the neighborhood. There’s no wind outside, but people nearby are using their fireplaces and wood stoves. The smoke is gradually increasing in concentration, making life more and more miserable.  

Non Burn Days and Other Mitigation Programs 

The SJVAPCD declares non-burn days, days when it is illegal to burn wood in stoves, fireplaces and for agricultural purposes.  However, citizens often ignore the order. On days it’s okay to burn, the air in some parts of the valley can be stagnant and extremely unhealthful, especially where many people use their fireplaces. The determination about whether a day will be a burn day is dependent on the weather forecast for most of the Valley.   

The SJVAPCD has tried hard to reduce air pollution through tough regulations and programs such as the clean diesel truck program.  However, the urbanization of the Valley is offsetting the progress made by the district because more people are generating air pollution. Long distance commuters may be driving cleaner cars, but the greater amount of driving and larger number of cars has more than offset the improvement in vehicle emissions. 

The Sparse Number of Monitoring Stations 

According to its web site, the San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District has only 36 air pollution monitoring stations widely scattered from San Joaquin County to Kern County, an area over 200 miles long and over 35 miles wide.  San Joaquin County has 4 monitoring stations, Stanislaus County has only 2, Merced County 2, Madera County 3, Fresno County 8, Kings County 3, Tulare County 5, and Kern County 9.  

While the 36 stations provide a reasonable overview of Valley air quality, the view isn’t localized enough to determine whether citizens everywhere are living in healthful conditions.   

The Shortcomings of “No Burn” Programs 

“Spare the Air” and “No Burn” days are supposed to minimize polluted air. However, the Valley is so large that one weather forecast cannot cover every part of it. While a large part of the Valley may experience sufficient winds to prevent the accumulation of toxic air and justify the designation of a burn day, localized stagnant air can contain harmful levels of carcinogens.   

When the air district says it’s ok to burn, citizens may do so even though it’s not safe in their own neighborhood. People assume it’s safe to burn if the air district says so. They don’t know whether the air is stagnant where they live. One active fireplace can severely pollute the air of an entire neighborhood on a day or night when the air is still. Even worse, some citizens use their fireplaces on “No Burn” days. Some are caught and fined, but most are not because the Valley has a large population, enforcement has relatively few officials, and enforcement is complaint driven. The worst situation is where citizens use wood to heat their homes throughout the winter regardless of burn days. 

As the population of the San Joaquin Valley continues to grow, air pollution problems will either become worse or wood burning restrictions will need to be made into permanent prohibitions. The alternative is ever greater air pollution and related health problems.  

 

 

 

Filed Under: Environment, Featured Tagged With: No Burn days, San Joaquin Valley air pollution, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. West Sider says

    December 20, 2013 at 4:10 am

    Not of these air regulations are going to matter in the long run if we keep adding asphalt and vehicles to the valley. Our local polticians are all fawning over these distribution centers, yet these will result in clogging our roadways with semt trucks. All that diesel I am sure will help improve air quality

    Reply
  2. Ruben Berdeja says

    December 29, 2013 at 4:15 am

    I live Modesto,ca and next door to my house they burn all the time; it’s bad here. Someone needs to come out here to cite them for burning

    Reply
  3. Bruce Frohman says

    January 1, 2014 at 5:31 pm

    If someone burns on a non-burn day, call the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control district at 209-557-6400. The offender will receive a written courtesy warning. If the warning is ignore, fines will follow.
    You can tell if it is a burn day by looking at the top right corner of the Modesto Bee or by going to the web site of the air district.
    In my neighborhood, I drop a polite note asking the neighbor not to burn. If my request is ignored, then the next step is the air district. As of this writing, I have not had to make a complaint.
    West Sider’s comment is correct. Unfortunately, there’s seems little we can do to stop “progress” as defined by our local rulers.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Half of Republicans believe false accounts of deadly U.S. Capitol riot-Reuters/Ipsos poll
Since the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed false and misleading accounts to downplay the event that left five dead and scores of others wounded. His supporters appear to have listened.
www.reuters.com
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century
On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation, even among Republican voters.
www.newyorker.com
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
New Zealand raises minimum wage to $20 an hour
Taxes on the richest New Zealanders are being raised
www.independent.co.uk
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
The Invisible Asylum | City Journal
Olympia, Washington, is a microcosm of the problems created by the emptying of mental hospitals.
www.city-journal.org
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
California needs affordable housing. Could these bills help? | CalMatters
Key legislators push duplexes, looser regulations and more money to boost housing supply.
calmatters.org
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let's fix it – here's how | Bernie Sanders
The rich-poor gap in America is obscene. So let’s fix it – here’s how | Bernie Sanders
While working people toil, the richest have never have it so good. It’s time to fight back – our democracy depends on it
www.theguardian.com
Sen. Bernie Sanders' Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A 'Rigged' Tax System
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Next Progressive Frontier: Reshaping A ‘Rigged’ Tax System
Sanders will introduce legislation Thursday to restore the corporate tax rate to 35% and add a new progressive tax on the estates of the wealthiest Americans.
www.npr.org
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
Perspective | Five myths about poverty
No, it’s not just an inner city problem. And it’s not the result of individual failure.
www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Los Angeles police clash with protesters in fight to evict major homeless encampment
Echo Park Lake site has become a battleground in the city’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis during the pandemic
www.theguardian.com
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama - The Bulwark
The High Stakes in the Amazon Union Fight in Alabama – The Bulwark
It’s about workplace democracy, and could affect not just the tech giant’s employees but those of other firms.
thebulwark.com
Farms, feathers, and fins share water in California
Farms, feathers, and fins share water in California
A coalition of conservation non-profits is creating innovative ways to put farmland to work supporting wildlife.
grist.org
Evidence indicates sedition charges likely over Capitol riots, prosecutor says
Evidence indicates sedition charges likely over Capitol riots, prosecutor says
Michael Sherwin, the federal prosecutor who until recently was leading the criminal investigation into the Capitol riots, told CBS’ “60 Minutes” Sunday that evidence indicates sedition charges will be laid against some suspects. Why it matters:
www.yahoo.com

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design