COUNTYWIDE : Physician Warns of Valley Fever Threat

In a presentation intended to point out a health risk from the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill, a Bakersfield physician told the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that any dust-producing project can spread Valley fever.

Projects in dry areas such as Weldon Canyon throw Valley fever spores into the air, said Dr. Hans Einstein, medical director of Bakersfield Memorial Hospital.

“Putting activities into areas which are populated areas that we know will produce dust . . . should be avoided whenever and wherever it is possible,” Einstein told the board. “The problem is dust.”

According to Einstein, Valley fever is contracted by an estimated 150,000 people a year in Mexico and the southwestern United States. Only about 1,000 even know they have it because its symptoms are similar to those of a cold. But 40 to 60 people die from it annually in this country, he said.

Einstein said Kern County has suffered a Valley fever epidemic since September, and he believes that the number of cases is up in Ventura County.

But Ventura County Health Officer Lawrence E. Dodds said there were only seven reported cases in the county in 1990 and seven more in 1991.

Supervisor Susan K. Lacey, whose 1st District includes Weldon Canyon, said she invited Einstein to speak so the board could better analyze the effects of a Weldon Canyon dump.

Oak View resident Theodore L. Cartee said he contacted Einstein two months ago, then made Lacey aware of the threat of Valley fever. Cartee said his left lung was removed 20 years ago because of the disease.

Waste Management of North America proposes the dump as the western county’s principal disposal site. The canyon is north of Ventura and east of California 33 near Casitas Springs.

Company officials said they plan to move 5.7 million cubic yards of dirt over the 30-year life of the dump, but dust will be kept at a minimum by watering the site.