COUNTYWIDE : County OKs Study by Air Polluters

At least 19 Ventura County businesses that pollute the air will be required to study whether their emissions could cause cancer in nearby residents under a program unanimously approved Tuesday by the County Board of Supervisors.

Companies targeted in the next two weeks by the county Air Pollution Control District will have to inform the public whether the chance of contracting cancer is greater that one in a million if a person lives nearby for 70 years, said Karl E. Krause, manager of the air pollution district’s engineering section.

The program is based on the state Air Toxics Hot Spots Information and Assessment Act of 1987.

The law requires air pollution control districts to determine the sources of more than 400 contaminants released into the air.

Companies that emit more than 25 tons a year of pollutants submitted their emission lists earlier this year.

The results of that inventory produced a list of 40 pollution sources in Ventura County.

They include 20 oil field pumping stations, five manufacturing companies and two defense contractors.

Officials are deciding which of the 40 companies must do health risk assessments, Krause said.

He said he estimated that it would take officials another two weeks to come up with the final list.

Of the 24 companies reviewed so far, 19 must do the assessments, he said.

Krause said he expected to decide on the remaining 16 companies in the next two weeks.

The selected companies will have six months to perform health assessments, including examining the height of smoke stacks or vents emitting the pollutants, the proximity of neighborhoods and weather and wind patterns in the area. The California Department of Health Services then has six months to review the findings, Krause said.

If the studies show a significant health risk, state law requires the results to be provided to all exposed people.