January, 09 2009, 02:23pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Paul Cort or Sarah Jackson, Earthjustice, (510) 550-6725
Yammilette Rodriguez, Latino Issues Forum - Fresno, (559) 241-6572
Kevin Hall, Sierra Club (559) 224-1842
Kevin Hamilton, Medical Advocates for Healthy Air - Fresno (559) 288-5244
EPA Sued over San Joaquin Valley "Clean Air"
EPA Declaration of Clean Air for the San Joaquin Valley Under Fire
SAN FRANCISCO
Public health, community, and conservation groups filed suit in the 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals against the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency over the Agency's decision to relieve the notoriously polluted
region from further obligations to address dust pollution under the
federal Clean Air Act.
At issue is an October 2006 final rule officially removing the San
Joaquin Valley's designation as an area that violates federal standards
for coarse particulate matter (PM-10). With this decision, EPA waived
remaining obligations of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control
District to continue it's fight against PM-10. According to the
California Air Resources Board, particulate matter is the most deadly
air pollutant, estimated to kill more than 1200 Valley residents each
year.
"The air is still not clean. More than half of Latinos in the San
Joaquin Valley report that they suffer from respiratory problems,(1)"
said Nora Vargas of the Latino Issues Forum. "Latino families suffer
disproportional health and economic impacts from air pollution as
asthma is the leading cause of absenteeism2 from school or work due to
chronic conditions. Air quality affects everyone, every resident of the
Valley deserves clean air."
Even though air quality monitors in the Valley show that the federal
standards are not being met, EPA and the local air district claim that
these recurring violations are natural and need not be addressed
through further controls.
"This is a classic case of trying to sweep the dust under the rug,"
said Paul Cort of Earthjustice who is representing the coalition
against EPA. "The air is not clean and the agencies have not done their
job to protect public health. EPA's decision is factually and legally
flawed and must be overturned."
"The San Joaquin Valley is a region where industry special interests
hold sway," said Kevin Hall of the Fresno Sierra Club. "As we said at
the time of the finding, it was either a miracle or they were lying. As
more data came in, we became convinced it was the latter."
"EPA regulators had to write new rules with special loopholes just so
they could ignore the Valley's PM-10 pollution," said Kevin Hamilton a
respiratory therapist and representative of Medical Advocates for
Healthy Air. "Listening to the coughing and wheezing of my patients I
wonder how their lungs and hearts can get in on the deal. Come on EPA,
we're not stupid here."
Strategy of Avoidance
For nearly a decade, community groups have been going to court to make
sure the Clean Air Act is fully enforced in the San Joaquin Valley.
These citizen's legal actions have successfully ended illegal
exemptions (agriculture, oil refineries) and forced new clean air rules
(for industrial polluters and wood burning.)
One of the cases clean air advocates won was a court order that set a
deadline for EPA to adopt missing measures for addressing the PM-10
problem in the Valley. Rather than establish these required measures,
EPA instead chose to manipulate data from air monitoring stations to
determine the Valley had attained the national PM-10 standards.
The Dangers of Particulate Matter
Sources of particulate matter pollution include almost any activity
that generates dust, soot or smoke. EPA has long recognized that
exposure to elevated ambient air concentrations of particulate matter
less than 10 microns in diameter (referred to as PM-10) can cause
impairment of lung function, impacts on respiratory defense mechanisms,
aggravation of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and premature
mortality.
EPA adopted national ambient air quality standards for PM-10 in 1987
and directed all areas not meeting these standards to adopt state plans
including specific control measures to regulate sources of PM-10.
The San Joaquin Valley in central California continues to be one of the most PM-polluted regions in the country.
- 30 -
Read the Petition for Review here:
https://www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/petition-pm-10.pdf
References:
1. Public Policy Institute of California
https://www.ppic.org/main/policyarea.asp?i=4
2. American Lung Association of CA
https://www.californialung.org/advocacy/asthma-policy
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