Monitoring Air Quality

While the public speculates on President Clinton’s libido, important issues are ignored. One very important issue is the release of the report, “Poisoning the Air: Airborne Pesticides in California.”

This report is critical of the state Department of Pesticide Regulation and its inaction on a 15-year-old legislative mandate to evaluate various high-risk pesticides as toxic air contaminants.

This is important to Ventura County because we are listed third in the state for the number of people who live within one-half mile of heavy pesticide use. Because this report is based on 1990 federal census data, it does not include thousands of residents in new areas, such as Spanish Hills, that are clearly within half a mile of heavily treated crops. Consequently, the report does not give Ventura County full credit for how many residents are at risk in 1998.

Predictably, the guardians of agribusiness responded with, “There’s no problem,” and called the report alarmist.

What’s alarming is that the DPR could be so blatant in corrupting the process intended to protect air quality for millions of Californians, then attempt to “blame the messenger” for making it public. This goes beyond bureaucratic incompetence and raises questions about whether a state agency that receives funding from an industry (pesticides) can be trusted to regulate that industry.

I understand that pesticides identified as hazardous air pollutants, defined in federal law as those that “cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to result in an increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or incapacitating reversible, illness” are used on fields near Rio Mesa High School. I also understand that the Air Pollution Control District has an air monitoring station in place at Rio Mesa High School.

Why not ask that the DPR or the Environmental Working Group be allowed to monitor the air for pesticides at the Rio Mesa campus?

It’s time to take a precautionary approach to a potential health threat that could affect us for generations. Why are we still debating public safety with old data, or no data?

It’s time to stop the stonewalling, do the monitoring and let the data do the talking.

DEBORAH BECHTEL, Camarillo