California Air Is Cleaner, but Troubles Remain
For those of you doubting fools questioning many of the posts on the port issues, there is a great 4 page article in the New York Times that ran yesterday.
My favorite part of the article is the image below. Click on it to enlarge.
Spotted at Skunks of Los Feliz
My favorite part of the article is the image below. Click on it to enlarge.
Spotted at Skunks of Los Feliz
Posted by Anonymous @ 8/04/2005 02:45:00 PM
39 Comments:
Interesting graphic that shows all of the pollution along the 710.
You know graphics can be skewed to exaggerate information to make a cause more alarming.
I'm not saying to poo-poo it, just comes as a bit of a surprise considering all of the talk at the Port.
Thank you very much.
The map of the cancer risk is taken from the Multiple Air Toxics Exposure II (MATES II) study, completed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in 1999. Since that time, the diesel emissions of the two ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have essentially doubled. Therefore, for communities around the two ports, and up and down the freeway and rail corridors, you can basically double this risk.
The cancer risk is expressed in terms of risk of cancers per 1 million of population. While the highest value shown on the maps (in 1999 terms) is "over 1250 per million", individual data points were much higher.
Note that the colored areas shown have square edges. The modeling in the study broke the air basin down into roughly two kilometer squares. Each square had a data point in terms of the cancer risk. The highest was just over 5800 per million, at Pier J in Long Beach Harbor.
Other intersting values in the harbor area include 3275 per million at Point Fermin, 1944 in downtown San Pedro, 1531 in east Wilmington, 2631 in downtown Long Beach, 2344 east of downtown in Long Beach, and so on.
Interesting that an increased risk of 19 per million caused such concern with regard to LAX expansion earlier in the week.
Once again, bearing in mind that the emissions of the ports have basically doubled since these numbers were developed, the intense concern in San Pedro, Wilmington and Long Beach is pretty understandable.
Bear in mind that well over 30 other health "end points" have been linked to diesel exhaust in the medical literature. Some time ago, I typed the whole list into a comment, but I won't do it here quite yet. Suffice it to say that the cancer risk level is an indicator for the risk of all these others as well, stroke, heart attack, asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and allergies being just a few.
The entire MATES II study is avaiable on the South Coast Air Quality Management District's website at aqmd.gov.
anonymous 3:03 PM is correct to point out the high levels of pollution along the 710. Those communities are at extreme risk as well.
The October 6-12, 2003 Los Angeles Business Journal (!) published a map on the front page based on the same MATES II data. While the map shown here shows a maximum value of "over 1250", many data points are much higher.
The Business Journal map showed a maximum value of "2,000+", with the next lower values being
"1,500-2,000", and "1,250-1,500". That map showed the risk along the 710 corridor at 1,250-1,500, while the port neighborhoods referenced in my previous comment were at 1,500-2,000 or 2,000+.
The individual numbers I mentioned before were from a map published by the Port of Los Angeles. It refined the data even more for the harbor area, but they are all based on the same data set.
All of these maps are publicly available. I'll bet that Mayor Frank would be able to verify them, if he thought it necessary.
There are huge rail yards in the Commerce, East Los angeles, and west Long Beach communities. These exist almost entirely to transfer port containers to and from rail cars. The California Air Resources Board has said that rail yards are second only to ports as sources of concentrated diesel pollution.
The Alameda Corridor and its associated rail lines exist almost entirely to service the ports. The SCAQMD has said that the emissions from railroad locomotives in the air basin exceed those of all of the power plants and oil refineries combined.
Tens of thousands of trucks travel the 710 every day, hauling containers to and from these rail yards, let alone to points east. Because of the extremely low rates paid to the drivers, these tend to be the oldest and highest polluting trucks in the air basin.
We are all in this together, from Wilmington, San Pedro and Long Beach to Commerce, and every city in between. If our cities do not get control of this pollution, hundreds of people will die (thousands in the fullness of time, but I don't want to sound incendiary). and hundreds of thousands will be made sick.
Thank you for posting this map and for your continued threads on port issues, especially port pollution.
The 710 is one of the main corridors for the port, so it makes sense that the map would indicate heavy pollution there.
If you look at the MATES II report on the SCAQMD website, be sure to check out Figure 4-6. It shows a really interesting presentation of the areas where the diesel pollution originates.
Note also that this is 1998 information.
Noel,
Please comment on the following press release (do these measures amount to anything meaningful?):
Press Release Source: Port of Los Angeles
The Port of Los Angeles Ramps up to Implement Its 2005-2006 near-Term Air Quality Measures
Thursday July 28, 6:44 pm ET
$16.63 Million Program Will Subsidize the Purchase of 850+ New Yard Tractors, New In-Port Switching Locomotives and Cleaner Fuel Programs for Ships and Harbor Craft
SAN PEDRO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 28, 2005-- Continuing the rollout of an aggressive four-year, $52 million air quality improvement program, the Port of Los Angeles Wednesday outlined plans for a $16.63 million suite of near-term air quality improvement measures planned for implementation over the next 12 months.
The 2005-2006 Port of Los Angeles Clean Air Program (POLACAP) commits more than $9 million in incentive funding to begin modernization of 869 yard tractors, a pollution source that accounts for 78 percent of the total NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions produced in the Port and is also the single largest source of port-related diesel particulate matter (PM) emissions within the communities surrounding the Port. Upon its completion, the program will reduce NOx and PM air pollutants by an estimated 2,250 tons and 405 tons, respectively.
"Because yard tractors are classified as 'off-road' vehicles, they are less stringently regulated by state air quality standards; but we believe they are the major source of air pollution from within the Port boundaries," said Dr. Ralph Appy, the Port's director of environmental management. "This is an aggressive program that will significantly reduce diesel emissions that impact our neighboring communities."
Over the next year, the Port will replace all pre-1996 model year yard tractors and 50 percent of all Tier 1 (1996-2002 model year) yard tractors. The Port plans to replace the remaining Tier 1 yard tractors and all Tier 2 (2003-2004 model year) yard tractors in phases 3 and 4 of the POLACAP program through 2008.
Nearly $2.2 million in additional 2005-2006 funding within the POLACAP will subsidize the purchase of lower-sulfur diesel fuel to power auxiliary engines on ocean-going vessels ($1.4 million), ancillary cargo handling equipment used by terminal operators ($550,000 of incentive funding), and marine harbor craft ($220,000).
The four-year, $52 million program also underwrites the cost of new in-port switching locomotives and subsidizes the purchase of hundreds of cleaner-burning diesel trucks driven by operators who make as many as 700 trips to and from the Port each year.
The Port of Los Angeles is America's premier port. As the leading containerport in the nation and a critical hub in the international supply chain, the Port generates thousands of stable, well paying jobs. It has also placed a high priority on smart growth initiatives combined with high security, environmental stewardship and community outreach. The Port of Los Angeles is a proprietary, self-supporting department of the City of Los Angeles. The Port of Los Angeles. . . Anchoring a bright future.
Wow. It really isn't that surprising that pollution follows the freeways that tightly.
I think that the number one solution HAS to be a tighter restriction on diesel exhaust.
But how can this possibly be achieved through Washington D.C.?
Have you seen the MTA buses? Those of you that are environmentalist (which I lack knowledge of) please tell me how damaging is to our health that nasty smoke that comes out of the buses. Does the MTA care?
Where does a writer get a job - and a salary - like that?
Mariel Garza, Columnist
I'm in the wrong business. In order to afford the lifestyle to which I long to become accustomed, I clearly need a job as a longshoreman at the Port of Los Angeles.
There was a mini-dustup last week when it turned out that Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's San Pedro appointee to the Harbor Commission might not live in that community. Or even in the city of Los Angeles. Picky, picky.
http://www2.dailynews.com/marielgarza/ci_2908594
Showdown over Sunshine
Mayor backs contract extension while vowing to fix trash policy
Beth Barrett, Staff writer
Hunter dismissed the mayor's arguments, saying the city has another year to find other solutions to the trash problem.
"I think it's a cop-out," he said.
http://www2.dailynews.com/news/ci_2914957
When pressed on the fact that Kern County got more money per capita than Los Angeles - $1,000 per resident compared to about $60 in Los Angeles County - the congresswoman said that kind of disparity is to be expected sometimes.
But she also noted that Rep. Bill Thomas, the Bakersfield Republican who chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, proved an ally, making the $286 billion bill the largest transportation and public works appropriation in the nation's history.
"It was Chairman Thomas who we went to, to see if we could find funding to help to prop this bill up so the president could sign it," Millender-McDonald said. "When you negotiate bills, those are some of the negotiating factors that come with it."
http://www.rednova.com/news/technology/197970/officials_mark_transit_victory_villaraigosa_celebrates_new_path_in_federal/
GOOD MORNING TODAY, BUENOS DIAS.
"CUT AND PASTE FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY..."
LAPD weighs lower recruitment hurdles to boost ranks
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/12306144.htm
Find Another Route for High-Speed Train
Recently Los Angeles Downtown News reported on a proposal to route a $37 billion high-speed train line along portions of the Cornfield and Taylor Yard, on the northeastern edge of Downtown. Shortly after that article, a City Council committee passed a resolution opposing the plan and Councilman Ed Reyes asked the rail agency to declare the area a "corridor for further study."
Reyes' comment was politically understated, essentially a nice way to raise the bar, and express a bit of displeasure, without taking someone to task. It was also absolutely the right thing to do, because a high-speed rail line as proposed would be a massive blow to a too-long-delayed effort to create parkland and reclaim the Los Angeles River
http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2005/08/01/news/opinion/edit03.txt
What a difference a day makes.
In 24 little hours, the L.A. school board journeyed last week from chaos to harmony; from nothing to a November ballot measure; from no new taxes to a bond measure that will ask voters to raise their property taxes for schools “one last time.”
Through all the maneuvering, the 76-year-old Romer, on crutches from recent surgery on his right ankle, wore a weary, expressionless mask, but he had to be feeling slightly apoplectic. His carefully allocated pots of money — divided up just so — were being futzed with through a series of four-vote majorities. But he needed five votes to get the thing on the ballot, and his fifth vote was slipping away.
Korenstein already had alerted everyone that she needed to leave at 6 p.m., but when charter schools got their money back, she shaved off a few extra minutes and stormed out of the room, refusing to vote.
Board member Jose Huizar dashed out in her wake. Huizar is running for the East L.A. City Council seat vacated by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and in an interview, Huizar indicated that he didn’t want to be the deciding vote. Lauritzen stayed in the room, but told The Journal afterwards that he was leaning toward a “no” vote. And Romer had never been counting on a “yes” from board member Marguerite LaMotte. In an interview, she talked of being “on the fence” at best.
In a matter of minutes, a possible 7-0 vote had collapsed to a likely 3-4
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=14446
Firm Monitoring King/Drew Admits Lapses in Oversight
Company hired to manage the troubled hospital acknowledges that its staff failed to promptly report two patient-care incidents.
By Charles Ornstein, Times Staff Writer
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors hired Navigant Consulting Inc. last fall to ensure that lapses in patient care at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center were caught and no longer covered up.
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-me-kingdrew4aug04,1,91169.story?coll=la-health-medicine
Downey hospital may close its emergency room
Downey Regional Medical Center may have to close its emergency room because of the exorbitant costs of treating uninsured patients, hospital officials said.
"I don't know how you could ask us to subsidize a private nonprofit," Supervisor Gloria Molina said. "Every single hospital would line up, because they have the same situation as you do."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/03/state/n053440D16.DTL&type=health
Is it really that bad? There are certainly two reasons for supposing that the positive-thinking governor is more in touch with reality than his gloomy electors. First, California is hardly on the wrong track. Its economy is expanding at an annual rate of almost 4%; unemployment, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, should this year average 5.3%, appreciably down from last year's 6.2%; and the aerospace, hi-tech and tourism industries are all looking healthy. The big risk is that outrageously high house prices will collapse, and consumer confidence with them—but so far that bubble shows few signs of bursting.
Second, Mr Schwarzenegger, even in his current bruised state, remains a much more powerful force than anything the Democrats can muster. His main opponents in Sacramento—Don Perata, the state Senate leader, Fabian Nuñez, the Assembly speaker and Bill Lockyer, the attorney-general—have all played some shrewd politics recently: for example, the Democrats passed a budget last month giving the governor almost everything he wanted, thus depriving him of the chance to spend the next three months railing against Democrat obstructionism. But none of these foes is a household name, with their DVDs available at Blockbuster. And the same applies to Messrs Westly and Angelides, the gubernatorial hopefuls.
http://www.economist.com/world/na/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4254621
CONSULTING CRITIZED: Staffers' moonlight jobs raise questions
By Kate Folmar and Andrew LaMar
TIMES SACRAMENTO BUREAU
For example, Danny Eaton, the chief of staff to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, received $50,000 this year to work for the California Democratic Party. Eaton was on vacation and could not be reached for comment. However, Democratic Party spokesman Bob Mulholland said Eaton was paid to work on several Assembly campaigns while he was on an extended leave of absence from the state payroll last year.
Molina warns of health care implosion
Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina said Wednesday the county's "health care safety net' faces a real danger of collapse.
http://www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205~12220~2994832,00.html
As to the Port's press release, anything which will introduce cleaner fuels or equipment at the Port is good. On the other hand, this is a token effort in the face of the size of the problem.
The "No Net Increase" report found that an expenditure of $420 million would be required over the same time period to implement the NNI measures. An even higher level of spending would be required in future years, as the projected growth of the Port requires even more effort.
Even at that, the diesel particulate emissions would continue to increase through 2007, before beginning to fall back toward the NNI baseline of 2001.
This is assuming that all of the control measures otlined in the report were put into effect. This is clearly not the present intent of the Port and its tenants.
Keep in mind that the baseline of NNI is 2001, when emissions were already substantially higher than in 1999, when the map shown above was developed. Thus, even if NNI was achieved, it would only perpetuate an already unacceptable situation.
When Dr. Appy says that "This is an aggressive program that will significantly reduce diesel emissions that impact our neighboring communities.", he is putting forward what can only be delicately described as an intentional misnomer. These measure will somewhat slow the rate of increase, nothing more. They will absolutely not reduce the overall level of pollution from the Port. Dr. Appy knows better.
The Port's press release is a typical product of the culture of obfuscation. Solve the problems through press releases. It is offensive to attempt in this way to lull the public into a false sense of security that the problem is being effectively addressed when, in fact, the problem grows worse every day.
The last paragraph only shows that the Port has no sense of irony whatsoever.
King/Drew Gets Mixed Review
Hospital's mortality rate has improved, but other problems persist, a new county report says.
Supervisor Gloria Molina said that the outside inspectors' findings would carry more weight for her than the data compiled by the health department.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-kingdrew30jul30,1,4889020.story?coll=la-news-state
Supervisors OK Development Despite Contaminated Well
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-westcreek27jul27,1,6560905.story?coll=la-commun-los_angeles_metro
Antonio Villaraigosa is unhappy with the DWP contract, but city officials told him he is powerless to stop it, the mayor's press secretary Joe Ramallo said. ...
Hard Choices May End Mayor's Honeymoon
During his first month in office, Villaraigosa has avoided taking sides on transit, school issues
http://ktla.trb.com/news/local/ktla-me-mayor1aug01-lat,0,3014712.story?coll=ktla-news-1
East Side Story
Rail line spurring boom in development activity
Investors and developers are eyeing sites and quietly buying up properties around the $900 million Eastside rail line now under construction through Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles.
Developer interest in the rail line is coinciding with a surge of publicly sponsored projects in the area and could lead to a rebirth that’s similar to what happened in Hollywood after the subway was completed there.
“For years, it was very hard to get developers interested in this area. But now, we’re running into more and more developers, buying property and looking at other properties to develop, and much of this interest is centering on the rail line,” said Tony Salazar, principal in the development firm McCormack Baron Salazar L
The firm is working with the city of L.A.’s housing authority and Related Cos. to develop the $100 million Aliso Village housing project in Boyle Heights, just north of the rail line. McCormack Baron Salazar is also eyeing other sites along the route.
http://www.labusinessjournal.com/article.asp?aID=18777771.47456.1175941.1951367.6881307.682&aID2=90448
What are the numbers for Bellflower, Noel?
Villaraigosa Underscores Importance of Attendance
Mayor talks to high school truants about missing school, warning their parents that they could be prosecuted for children's absences.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-truant5aug05,1,4463576.story?coll=la-news-state
Sounds like trouble in Emeryville
Emeryville, the little city at the eastern end of the Bay Bridge, is bordered by two busy freeways, and most of its 1.2 square miles is a concrete jungle of shopping centers, lofts and tech industry.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/08/05/BAGJIE328K1.DTL
LAPD may ease drug rules to expand recruiting pool
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/1775097.html
Flatulent bovines blamed for smog problems
Los Angeles - Air quality officials in the San Joaquin Valley are blaming blasts of digestive gases from cows as the cause of the worst smog levels in the United States, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.
The report quoted the officials as saying that the central California region's 2,5 million cows have a worse effect on smog than the cars, trucks and tractors that ply one of the most important farming regions in the country...
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=qw1123043581687R131
LAUSD gets another chance to fleece public
Los Angeles Daily News, CA
... It was at the time the largest local bond issuance in American history. With each of two subsequent bond measures, the LAUSD has exceeded its own record. ...
LA alternative-energy fees to rise
Monterey County Herald, CA
... And in separate action, the LAUSD signed a contract with the DWP in 1997, agreeing not to pursue any alternative energy plans until 2008 in exchange for a 5 ...
WOW!! What a concerted effort to make sure that port issues are not discussed in this open forum. The effort alone speaks volumes.
Could it be the work of one of the port's hired public relations firms?
TO THE ISSUE:
The map is old. A new one should be coming out soon. It will probably look even worse.
The simple fact is this: If the Port (a public agency) was spending the appropriate amount of money necessary to protect its citizens, the map would look much different.
The numbers for Bellflower are 1250-1500
What shocks me is to see the black soot that comes out of the school busses. There is no excuse for that.
Well, the Mayor rolled over on Sunshine Canyon. Is he going to give up on curbing Port air pollution too. Count on it.
You can bet the farm MAV will cave on air pollution. The Mayor & his staff will never agree to take the tough actions needed to clean the air at the Port.
MAV should remember that making the Port clean up its air pollution mess, doesn't just benefit San Pedro, it benefits Wilmington, South LA, East LA, Koreatown, Highland Park, Hollywood, etc.
Actually, it benefits even more areas than that - Riverside's getting socked with port pollution too.
I know, not his area -- but just goes to show how pervasive this problem is.
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