Next year, the federal government will start checking drinking water for a newly recognized contaminant — 1,2,3-trichloropropane or TCP.
It’s a so-called “garbage” chemical found in a farm fumigant that was widely used decades ago in the San Joaquin Valley. It already has been found in many Valley water systems.
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To all you people out there with your hair on fire because the American Lung Association ahhhgain gave our air an “F,” please, douse yourselves and think for a minute.
The truth is the nation’s air quality overall has improved vastly in the years since the ALA began looking at air pollution data more than 13 years ago.
According to the American Lung Association 2012 State of the Air report, some areas in California with really bad air pollution levels have improved faster than other areas. Why?
The 13th annual air quality report from the American Lung Association has good and bad news for the San Joaquin Valley — but it’s still mostly bad.
Visalia, Bakersfield, Fresno and Hanford are among the five most ozone-polluted cities in the country, the Lung Association reported this week. Only the Los Angeles area is worse. The message has been consistent for years.
This will make you take a deep breath: The American Lung Association, each year, ranks regions around the USA for short-term particulates, long-term particulates, and ozone levels. Combining the three categories of pollution into one table allows a relative ranking of the five most polluted places to live. All of the top five are in California and four out of five are located in the southern half of the San Joaquin Valley.
Failing a test might not sting so much when most of your friends fail, too.
Nevertheless, San Joaquin and Calaveras are among 37 counties in California to suffer at least one failing grade in the latest airquality report card issued by the American Lung Association.
Today’s annual “State of the Air” report lumps San Joaquin with more pristine counties — even Santa Barbara, which also earned an “F” for ozone pollution.
The American Lung Association released its annual State of the Air report today. Not surprisingly, California continues to dominate the list of most polluted cities for both particulate and ozone pollution with many counties in the State receiving an “F” grade. Most of the poorest grades on air quality were focused in areas like Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and many portions of the San Joaquin Valley. Overall, the report reflects a continued need for robust and strong advocacy to curb harmful air pollution that makes it unhealthy for millions of Californians.
Kettleman City, in western Kings County, California, catches a break with special language in both bills designed to encourage water deliveries that would make up for the area’s contaminated groundwater.
A 1974 memo from Dow Chemical describes several chemicals in a widely used farm fumigant as “garbage.” Today, one of those useless chemicals threatens drinking water for more than 1 million people across the San Joaquin Valley.
Now linked to cancer, the toxin was waste from a plastic-making process. Chemical companies often mix such leftovers to create other products to avoid the cost of disposal, says one long-time chemical engineer.