Improvement Still Short of EPA Mandate : Figures Show Air Pollution Levels Falling in Some Categories

Air pollution levels have been dropping over the last several years in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys as well as other areas of Greater Los Angeles, according to data recently published by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The statistics show that concentrations of ozone, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide--the main problem pollutants in the area--have been reaching unhealthy levels less often than during the late 1970s and early ‘80s at most of the air district’s 31 monitoring stations, including those in Reseda, Burbank and Newhall.

The numbers show “that we’re making a lot of progress,” said Jim Birakos, deputy executive officer for the district, which regulates air quality in Los Angeles and Orange counties, and portions of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Slow Progress

But while levels of some pollutants have dropped dramatically, progress against others has been slower and the South Coast basin will fall far short of meeting a Dec. 31, 1987, deadline for complying with federal ozone and carbon monoxide standards, air district officials acknowledge. As a result, the federal Environmental Protection Agency could ban new polluting industries and could cut off federal highway and sewer construction funds.

Moreover, some officials and clean-air activists have expressed concern that progress may be minimal without additional controls on vehicle and industrial emissions to offset expected growth in population, auto traffic and industry.

Sabrina Schiller, one of 14 members of the air district’s governing board and project coordinator for the Santa Monica-based Coalition for Clean Air, said that although the air quality trend is encouraging, the level of pollution “is still unacceptable.”

She said air district officials have made “a big deal out of progress, but the fact is, we have to look at where we should be at this point. . . . When you look at the job we’ve been doing, progress or not, it ain’t so great,” she said.

Ozone Levels

Air district data show that ozone levels reached first- or second-stage levels in some part of the South Coast basin on 114 days in 1975 and 101 days in 1980. However, the number of episode days, or days in which alerts occurred, declined to 94 in 1984 and 77 in the just-concluded ozone season of 1985.

At the air district’s monitoring station at 18330 Gault St. in Reseda, the number of days on which ozone concentrations reached episode levels was 36 in 1980, six in 1984 and eight in 1985. At the Burbank monitoring station, 228 W. Palm Ave., ozone reached episode levels on 30 days in 1980, five days in 1984, and 17 days in 1985. At the Newhall station, 24875 San Fernando Road, episode levels were recorded on 46 days in 1980, 18 days in 1984 and 13 days this year. Air district officials have attributed the improvement to lower emissions from automobiles and industry.

Ozone is a lung-irritating gas that is formed when hydrocarbon emissions from auto exhaust and other sources react with nitrogen oxide in strong sunlight. Ozone levels peak during the warm-weather months.

During a first-stage episode--when the ozone concentration reaches .20 parts of the gas per million parts of air--air is considered to be unhealthful for everyone, particularly those with a respiratory ailment or heart condition. At second-stage levels--when the ozone reaches .35 parts per million--air is considered hazardous for everyone and even healthy people are advised to reduce strenuous exercise and outdoor activity.

Federal Standard Exceeded

The federal ozone standard of .12 ppm is exceeded in the South Coast basin more than 100 days a year.

Air district officials acknowledge that ozone levels, while decreasing, have risen at some stations in some years because of variable weather patterns. For example, the healthiest ozone season was 1982, when an unusual pattern of summer cloud cover and low temperatures aloft reduced ozone formation.

Air district data show a more dramatic decrease in carbon monoxide levels, thanks to much improved emission controls on vehicles. Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas--odorless, colorless and produced mainly by auto emissions--that can reach unhealthy concentrations during the winter months. It interferes with the transport of oxygen through the human body, and can aggravate heart problems.

According to air district data, the federal carbon monoxide standard--an eight-hour average of 9.3 ppm--in 1975 was exceeded at at least one South Coast monitoring station on 159 days. The standard was topped on 71 days in 1984, a 55% decrease.

3rd Highest Levels

At the monitoring station in Burbank--where the third highest carbon monoxide levels in the air district are recorded--the federal standard was exceeded on 118 days in 1975, 57 days in 1980, 21 days in 1983 and 16 days in 1984. The average daily maximum at the Burbank station during the winter fell from 15.83 ppm in 1975 to 8.38 ppm in 1984, an improvement of almost 50%.

Carbon monoxide readings in Reseda exceeded the federal standard on 50 days in 1975, 26 days in 1980, 14 days in 1983 and nine days in 1984. The average winter day maximum for the gas dropped from 10.99 ppm in 1975 to 7.11 ppm in 1984. Carbon monoxide levels in Newhall have been much lower but have not been measured on a yearly basis, according to air district officials.

In 1984, 16 of 19 air district monitoring stations met the federal standard for nitrogen dioxide, but Burbank was one of the three stations that did not.

Nitrogen dioxide, which is emitted from vehicles, power plants and industrial boilers, is a lung irritant that also combines with hydrocarbons and creates ozone. Officials have attributed the decrease to lower emissions from its sources.

In Burbank, the average nitrogen dioxide level in 1984 was 5.60 parts of the contaminant per 100 million parts of air--exceeding the federal standard of 5.32. But this was better than in 1980, when the average nitrogen dioxide level was 7.06 parts per 100 million parts of air.

At the Reseda station, nitrogen dioxide levels fell from an average of 4.99 parts per 100 million in 1980 to 3.89 last year. In Newhall, the average was 1.81 in 1980 but the pollutant hasn’t been measured there since.

Airborne Lead

The biggest success has been the reduction in airborne lead, due to increased use of unleaded gas and limits on lead in fuel.

In 1983 and again last year, lead levels did not exceed the federal standard or a stricter state standard at any monitoring station in the South Coast basin, air district statistics show. Until 1980, in most years lead levels at most stations exceeded the federal standard--set at 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air as a three-month average.

At the Reseda station, where the level of airborne lead averaged 4.64 micrograms in 1975 and 1.68 micrograms in 1980, the average dropped to .55 micrograms in 1984. Lead levels have not been monitored regularly at the Burbank or Newhall stations.

In an interview, district deputy executive Birakos said that big improvements in air quality from now on might depend on “societal changes” rather than traditional pollution controls. He cited as examples substitution of cleaner burning alcohol fuels for gasoline and extension of computer networks to allow people to work at home instead of commuting to work in cars.

Faulted Coalition

But Schiller of the clean air coalition faulted the air district board on which she sits for failing to adopt some of the controls outlined in an air cleanup plan the board submitted to state and federal pollution control agencies in 1982.

According to a written analysis by the coalition, 14 pollution-fighting strategies outlined in the Air Quality Management Plan adopted by the board were to have been implemented by now but are “past due.” Together, these measures could cut an estimated 24 tons per day of hydrocarbon and nearly a ton per day of nitrogen oxide emissions, according to the analysis.

Birakos contended that the analysis is “misleading” because the air quality plan is merely a “guideline” from which the board should depart when “new evidence and new testimony” warrant. Birakos also noted that the board also has achieved emission reductions by adopting rules that weren’t called for in the air quality plan.