County Must Develop Tighter Emissions Laws

In a story in last Monday’s Times, reporters Steven R. Churm and Ralph Frammolino disclosed a surprising and disturbing picture of industrial air pollution in Orange County. Data compiled by them showed that 169 companies in the county released more than 7 million pounds of chemical fumes into the county’s atmosphere in 1987, the second highest amount of toxic emissions in the state.

Another statistic that doesn’t make residents breathe any more easily is that the emissions, although not considered illegal, are putting some toxic fumes into the air that are known to either contribute to smog or damage the ozone layer, and others are suspected carcinogens.

Because of the disclosures, for the first time county residents know what toxins, and how much of them, are escaping into the atmosphere. They also know that some of these substances have produced problems for animals in laboratory tests and that there is some concern that excessive concentrations of the toxins could possibly cause cancer, birth defects and other health problems.

Residents must also now wonder whether existing emission standards are strict enough. Unfortunately, nobody can determine the full medical impact and potential dangers the toxins pose. Industry and environmental and health officials have reached no consensus. But the large amounts of toxic emissions in the county from what many residents believed to be “clean” industries certainly raise concern over the potential dangers they pose.

There is no simple solution to the complex problem of reducing toxic emissions in Orange County, or elsewhere. But now, the knowledge of the extent of those emissions and that they will continue to increase with the county’s industrial growth, puts added emphasis on the need for stricter controls to create less toxic fumes initially and to capture more of the fumes that are escaping into the county’s deteriorating atmosphere.