Valley air officials declared a “historic” victory Thursday, saying the region has achieved a federal pollution standard after more than two decades and $40 billion spent to clean the air.
The Environmental Protection Agency must agree with that claim before it becomes official.
But Thursday’s news was a refreshing change of tone in the San Joaquin Valley, where the air has long been considered among the worst in the nation…
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The announcement by our valley air board of compliance with the one-hour ozone standard is bogus.
Their claim is based on three dubious and unprovable assumptions: One, that a couple violations in Fresno last year were caused by pollution from a fire at a refinery in the Bay Area. Two, that the Arvin Bear Mountain ozone monitor would not have had any violations the past three years. Three, that up to 20 percent of the ozone in Kern County is coming from Asia. The Environmental Protection Agency has to approve this claim, and they are not that stupid. There is still a lot of work to do before we will have healthy air to breathe. The $29 million fine is helping to do that work. We will no doubt have to pay it for a few more years…
Thousands of students in the south Central Valley who didn’t have access to clean drinking water in their schools will now be able to quench their thirst safely after several organizations and companies that make water filters formed an unusual partnership…
A 2-year grassroots effort to engage residents in small, rural communities regarding drinking water and wastewater issues came to an end in early November with the final meeting of the Kings Basin Disadvantaged Communities Pilot Project Study highlighting the successful outcomes and with the conclusion to continue the effort…
The governing board of the valley air district voted unanimously Thursday to ask federal regulators to end a $29 million smog penalty charged annually to valley motorists.
The 12-0 vote at the Fresno offices of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District authorizes the eight-county district to formally ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to declare the valley “in attainment” of the one-hour ozone standard. The district will also formally request that the EPA lift the penalty…
Polluters ought to pay for their air pollution. Those who add to the perpetual haze that hangs over California’s Central Valley ought to be held accountable for their contributions.
But when it’s impossible to know precisely who adds to the pollution, and how much, it’s difficult to assign blame, monetary or otherwise. And when certain known contributors get off scot free because of legal or logistical constraints, it’s ultimately unfair to pin the whole problem on vulnerable known contributors…
Five Head Start Centers, four schools and south Kern County communities of Arvin and Lamont are getting relief from arsenic contaminated water.
Community Action Partnership of Kern, the Arvin Union School District and Community Water Center working with local community groups are securing funding to deliver safe drinking water to the school sites by installing water filters at playground drinking fountains and classrooms….
Dr. Erin Gaab, a researcher with the UC Merced Health Sciences Research Institute, was unaware of valley fever until about a year ago when doctors from Central California Children’s Hospital visited her and spoke of how the disease has affected their young patients.
Rey León, founder and executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Latino Environmental Advancement Project, contracted valley fever seven years ago after he was misdiagnosed twice. Later, he discovered that at least five relatives had suffered from coccidioidomycosis (valley fever)…
Five Head Start Centers, four schools and south Kern County communities of Arvin and Lamont are getting relief from arsenic contaminated water.
Community Action Partnership of Kern, the Arvin Union School District and Community Water Center working with local community groups are securing funding to deliver safe drinking water to the school sites by installing water filters at playground drinking fountains and classrooms…
A coalition addressed water contamination in some south Kern County schools.
Water filters were installed at cooking areas and drinking fountains on playgrounds and in classrooms at five Head Start centers and four schools in Arvin and Lamont…