Dangerous specks of soot, chemical debris will be focus.
A public hearing Wednesday at the regional air district may sound like a rerun of a debate last year -- dozens of activists criticizing a cleanup plan and district leaders defending their work.
A year ago, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District had that kind of debate over the ozone cleanup plan, which the governing board approved.
The same sort of discussion is expected Wednesday, focusing on dangerous specks of soot and chemical debris, called PM-2.5. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District board is expected to approve the plan.
"This plan will be second to none in the country," says district Executive Director Seyed Sadredin.
Replies activist Alvin Valeriano, a former district engineer who quit the agency last year: "They're not taking full advantage of the opportunities to clean up faster. There are people dying from this pollution."
PM-2.5 specks are so small that 30 or 40 of them could fit across the width of a human hair. They can pass through the lungs into the blood stream, triggering asthma attacks and heart problems. They are known to cause early death.
The Valley has one of the state's worst problems with these fine particles, which are at their worst in fall and winter. Some of the specks come from fires and vehicles, but the majority of the Valley's PM-2.5 problem occurs when chemicals combine in the air.
Oxides of nitrogen -- NOx -- from vehicles combine with plumes of ammonia coming mostly from dairies to form a chemical speck called ammonium nitrate, which accounts for nearly half of the region's PM-2.5.
District officials are counting on state diesel rules to dramatically reduce NOx by 2014. Diesel trucks, over which the district has little authority, are the Valley's biggest source of NOx. The same pollutant helps form ozone in summer.
The district also plans to tighten fireplace-burning regulations in the next two years, meaning no-burn days for Fresno County residents will probably triple in average years. During years when the stagnant air and fog dominate, the bans might be ordered on three of every four days.
The plan forecasts full cleanup of PM-2.5 by 2014. District officials said nearly 40% of the eight-county region, from Stockton to Bakersfield, already meets the health standard.
The air will meet the federal health standard for more than 70% of residents in the next three years, officials said.
Sadredin said the district also will be investigating further reductions from such sources as lime kilns, cotton gins, urban development and even fireworks.
"Every stone will be turned to find more reductions," Sadredin said.
Activists disagree. Earthjustice, a nonprofit legal watchdog in Oakland, has submitted a list of suggested pollution controls on sources ranging from dairies to lawn equipment.
Valeriano said he estimates the district could achieve the PM-2.5 standard by 2012 or 2013. But the district needs to push new technology for farm diesel engines as well as requiring filters on wine fermentation and storage tanks.
"There are reasonable measures the district is not using," he said. "Instead, all they want to do is a feasibility study on them."
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