County’s Air Cleared Up Some in ‘87, Monitors Say

Smog continues to be a major problem in San Diego County, but the number of days it exceeded the federally acceptable levels declined from previous years during 1987, according to the Air Pollution Control District’s annual air quality progress report.

The report, released Tuesday, says ozone exceeded the minimum federal level of 13 parts per 100 million on 40 days last year. On 26 of those days, the condition was attributed to smog’s moving south from Los Angeles, but on the remaining 14 days to local pollution.

Also during 1987, air pollution officials recorded one smog alert when the ozone level reached 20 parts per million, the first since the county recorded its first alert-free year in 1986. That contrasts with 90 days of smog and 11 smog alerts in 1978, the base year for the progress report and the year the air-pollution control district instituted an air-quality program.

R. J. Sommerville, the county’s air-pollution control officer, credited the program, along with improved emissions controls in new cars, for removing nearly 95 tons a day of pollution from the air since 1978. The program used a series of regulations to reduce industrial pollution, as well as a smog-check program to curb car emissions.

Despite the improvement in overall air quality, the report indicates that one of the main elements of smog, hydrocarbon emissions from vehicles and industries, is still a problem and exceeds the 1982 state standards of 186 tons a day. Current readings show the emissions at nearly 210 tons a day.

The report blamed the county’s explosive growth for the difficulty in curbing the emissions, especially those from cars.

More Than Anticipated

The 79,000 people who moved into San Diego County last year was 60% more than anticipated, and that growth surge was responsible for about 6 extra tons of hydrocarbons a day in the air, said the report.

“Strong land-use policies are needed to curb this rate of growth and strong new regulatory based transportation control measures may be needed to reduce vehicular emissions,” the report said.

Sommerville stressed Tuesday that local governments must strengthen their efforts to control the county’s growing traffic problem through car pooling or staggered work hours.

Without a more rigorous approach to traffic control, as well as stricter emission standards on new cars and a stepped-up smog check program, urban growth will undermine the recent gains in reducing smog in San Diego County, said Sommerville.

“If nothing is done, through the mid-1990s and beyond that, growth will overcome the current efforts and we will continue to see a deterioration in smog,” he said.