‘86 Smog Season One of the Best for Clean Air

The April-to-October 1986 smog season has been “one of the best on record” with the fewest first-stage smog alerts in five years, due to favorable weather conditions and pollution controls on cars and factories, the South Coast Air Quality Management District said Friday.

Not only are the number of smog-alert days declining, the alerts that were called did not last as long, the district said.

“It’s turning out to be one of the best smog seasons on record, and Orange and Riverside counties had the best air quality year in their history,” said Jim Birakos, the AQMD’s deputy executive officer.

Nonetheless, the basin--which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties--continues to fall short of federal Clean Air Act standards for ozone and carbon monoxide and is not expected to meet them for decades.

There was only one second-stage alert this year in the basin, in Glendora, compared to seven last year, including four in Glendora. There were other such alerts on three other days in Perris, Riverside, Pasadena, Azusa and Pomona.

There were 77 days of Stage 1 alerts this year, compared to 83 days last year.

A Stage 1 alert is called when ozone concentration reaches .20 parts of the gas per million parts of air, considered to be unhealthful for everyone, particularly those with a respiratory ailment or heart condition.

A Stage 2 alert is called when ozone levels reach .35 parts per million. Air in a State 2 alert is considered hazardous for everyone, and even healthy people are advised to reduce strenuous exercise and outdoor activity.

There were just six hours this year in which ozone concentrations exceeded .30 ppm, compared to 34 hours last year, 17 hours in 1984, 59 hours in 1983, and 30 hours in 1982. In 1978, ozone concentrations remained above .30 ppm for 261 hours.

The AQMD said it is encouraged by the downward trend in air pollution episodes, first reported a year ago by the state Air Resources Board. The gains have come despite population growth and the fact that low gasoline prices are dramatically driving up fuel consumption in California.

The major weather condition that contributed to lower air pollution was cooler temperatures at higher altitudes, where inversion layers are formed to trap pollutants beneath them. Another major factor, he said, was air pollution controls on industrial and auto emissions, including the state’s “Smog Check” vehicle inspection and maintenance program and vapor recovery systems on gasoline pump nozzles.

Despite the favorable trend, there are growing concerns that the federal Clean Air Act’s ozone standard may no longer be adequate to protect even healthy exercising adults, based on new studies reviewed by the EPA. It had long been known that higher levels of ozone affect the elderly, children and those suffering from respiratory illnesses.

SMOG ALERTS

These South Coast Basin Air Quality Management District figures show the number of first- and second-stage ozone smog alerts in selected reporting stations. Second-stage alerts (-) are in bold type.

1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Anaheim 5 6 5 7 11 5 9 1 Azusa 71 74 65 40 61 55 46 43 - 10 7 2 1 3 1 Burbank 26 30 18 12 35 5 17 11 - 2 1 Downtown L.A. 14 10 8 7 12 8 6 7 - 1 Fontana 95 84 73 33 56 45 46 46 - 7 8 1 Glendora *68 68 - 5 1 Long Beach 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Pasadena 78 56 48 34 60 49 40 30 - 11 3 1 Riverside 55 67 34 26 41 29 30 18 - 4 1 1 West L.A. 7 3 3 2 5 5 4 1

*First year figures provided.