County Residents Breathing the Cleanest Air in 20 Years

Ventura County’s residents breathed cleaner air this year than they have in two decades, according to results of air quality monitoring from January through the official end of the county’s smog season on Saturday.

Good air quality in 1992 surpassed even that of 1990, when favorable weather created the best year since pollution monitoring began in 1973.

Although meteorologists said weather conditions were a significant factor in reducing smog this year, air quality officials attributed much of the reduction in pollution to more stringent regulations, including tougher standards statewide on tailpipe emissions.

Other contributing factors might have included new restrictions on emissions from business and industry, said Richard H. Baldwin, head of the county’s Air Pollution Control District.

“We’ve had some of the best progress in the state and nation,” said Baldwin, adding that polluting emissions have been reduced by more than one-third in the past 20 years. “I think that we will continue to see better air in the future.”

Regulations taking effect over the next several years--which will continue to force pollution levels downward--include a county trip-reduction rule requiring employers to entice workers to share rides or adjust hours to reduce the number of commuters driving during peak traffic hours.

A strict new regulation on the county’s power plants to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions that contribute to smog will also make a significant difference in air quality in the future, Baldwin said.

Ventura County has not called a first-stage smog alert since 1989. And this year, the district issued only one health advisory, contrasted with five last year and 1990. The county has exceeded federal health standards for ozone, the primary component of smog, only 10 times this year, contrasted with 31 days for the same period last year and a 10-year average of 51 days.

Pollutants in the county’s air have exceeded the more stringent state health standards 63 times this year, contrasted with 101 times from January through October, 1991, and a 10-year average of 130 days.

William Mount, head of planning for the county air pollution district, called the air quality “unbelievably good, especially compared to the South Coast (Air Quality Management) District), which has had a very poor year.”

The South Coast district, which includes four of the smoggiest counties in the nation (Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange), called first-stage smog alerts 41 times this year and exceeded federal health standards for ozone 140 times.

But Bill Kelly, spokesman for the district, said that shows a steady improvement in the Los Angeles Basin, which has the worst air quality in the nation. First-stage alerts were down by six from 1991 and down by 47 from 1989. Federal health standards were exceeded 125 times last year, contrasted with 147 in 1989 and 172 in 1988. No current figures were available for state standards, he said.

“We were pleased to see the numbers for the summer,” Kelly said. “If we can keep up the pace on cleanup measures, we can look forward to improving air quality in the years ahead.”

Ventura County and the Los Angeles Basin were among several areas where air quality improved this year, said Bill Sessa, spokesman for the state Air Resources Board.

“Air quality has gotten slightly better in all the metropolitan areas of the state, and it’s happened during a year when the weather is not the sole reason for its improvement,” Sessa said. Sessa said California requires the “world’s cleanest cars and fuels,” which helps guide the 20-year trend toward less polluted air.

But weather was also a factor in the reduced pollution levels. The usual high-pressure system that forms during the summer, creating an inversion layer and trapping warm air and pollutants below, was absent most days during the summer, said Kent Field, meteorologist with the county air pollution district.

“It looks like a combination of both weather and reductions in pollutants or contaminants in the air,” Field said. “We’re still analyzing the data, but it looks like the typical patterns conducive to the formation of ozone did not set up this year on most days.”

Field said that on the days when an inversion layer was in place, ozone levels were higher.

The reduced pollution levels made the difficult chore of breathing less arduous for emphysema sufferers such as Richard Reiner, a spokesman for the American Lung Assn., who depends on oxygen supplements 24 hours a day to stay alive.

“We still have a long way to go to clean up the air,” Reiner said. “But compared to the Los Angeles Basin where I lived most of my adult life, this is heaven up here.”

Nevertheless, Ventura County is still among nine areas around the country that are deemed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to have a severe air quality problem. The Los Angeles Basin is the only area in the country with ozone pollution so bad it is labeled extreme.

An area is considered in violation of federal health standards when it exceeds the standards three times in three years. The EPA then classifies those districts in violation of the standards as extreme, severe, serious, moderate or marginal, based on the peak ozone levels for 1988 through 1990.

Ozone pollution, created when emissions from motor vehicles and industry mix in sunlight, decreases lung function and has been implicated as a possible cause for increased asthma attacks in the Los Angeles Basin. It is also being studied for a possible link to lung cancer.

Mike Stubblefield, spokesman on air quality issues for the Sespe group of the Sierra Club, said the figures showing a reduced number of days with poor air quality in the county are encouraging.

He praised the air pollution district for its work to reduce air pollution, but said it still has not done enough.

“The Sierra Club was very unhappy with the fact that the district’s current Air Quality Management Plan (a document that guides pollution regulations into the next decade) did not bring us into compliance with the Clean Air Act by the 2005 deadline.”

Stubblefield, who serves on a task force to help shape the county’s next management plan due out in 1994, said the district should speed implementation of its trip-reduction rule to force more businesses to comply.

Also, he said the district should eliminate its policy of allowing businesses to buy and sell pollution credits, which allows one firm that has reduced its emissions below the required level to sell those credits to other businesses.

The county should also encourage the building of more bicycle paths, and place a greater emphasis on a viable public transportation program, he said.

At the state and national level, Stubblefield said more restrictions on emissions from air, sea and interstate travel should be imposed. And a state provision should be repealed that allows drivers of polluting cars to continue driving the automobiles after they have spent a cap of $300 to reduce emissions.

Baldwin said the district is constantly working with the state Air Resources Board to toughen statewide emission regulations.

“Ten years ago our peak ozone levels were the fourth highest in the nation,” Baldwin said. “Now we are losing ground and we’re down to 13th. So we are making progress.”

Smog Levels

Chart shows the number of days each year from January through October that air quality in Ventura County exceeded federal and state health standards for ozone, a nearly invisible gas that is the primary component of smog. The first figure represents exceedences of federal standards, while the second figure shows the number of days that the more stringent state standards were violated. The 1992 smog season, which ended Oct. 31, has been the cleanest since monitoring began.

1992* 1991 1990 1989 1988 Simi Valley 06/58 31/94 14/84 40/99 51/118 Thousand Oaks 02/29 00/18 03/27 10/48 08/43 Oxnard/El Rio 03/15 00/11 00/09 02/18 03/24 Ventura 00/03 01/10 00/05 02/13 01/09 Ojai 04/32 03/28 02/26 05/56 03/51 Piru 00/15 03/41 03/44 04/41 08/44 Countywide 10/63 31/101 15/94 43/108 54/125

* 1992 data is preliminary and subject to revision.

Measuring Smog

Air quality is measured by the concentration of ozone. The state and federal governments set separate standards, but both are measured in parts per million ozone. The Environmental Protection Agency also converts the parts per millions readings to whole numbers for the Pollutant Standard Index.

Air Quality Report

This chart shows the ozone levels for Ventura County. Ozone is an invisible irritant that impairs breathing. When it reaches 131 on a federal index, healthy people are advised to reduce physical activity. Pollutant Standard Index 0-50 Good 51-100 Moderate 101-199 Unhealthful 200-299 Very unhealthful 300-500 Hazardous

Today’s Area Saturday forecast Coastal 38 45 Inland Coastal 40 50 Conejo Valley 38 45 Ojai Valley 40 50 Simi Valley 32 40 Fillmore/Piru 34 40 Santa Paula 40 35

Source: Ventura County Air Pollution Control District