Neighbors Deplore New Ruling as Crummy Decision

Some Los Angeles-area residents turned up their noses Friday at the newest air pollution rules imposed on Southern California industry.

They are the neighbors who live downwind from 24 bakeries ordered by the South Coast Air Quality Management District to install smog control filters on oven vents to capture escaping gases from fresh-baked bread. Smog-producing ethyl alcohol is formed as bread is leavened and then emitted as part of the aroma, authorities said.

Smog or no smog, some bakery neighbors--a crusty bunch--think the rule is pretty crummy.

They are worried that the new smog crackdown will eliminate the sweet smell that they enjoy each day.

“I like the smell. It’s like waking up in the morning and smelling coffee,” said Elizabeth De Armas, who lives across the street from the huge Weber’s Bakery in Glendale.

Next-door neighbor Jose Estralla agreed. “It smells good. I’d hate to see it go,” he said.

Said Julian Carrera, who has lived down the street from the bakery for nine years: “If they want to go after air pollution, they ought to go after the factories that have the really nasty smells.”

Inside the sprawling bakery, plant manager Sam Tatum was waiting to learn just how much of the aroma will be sucked up by the two new vent “scrubbers” his company has agreed to install above its 400-degree ovens.

“No one really knows,” Tatum said as he watched thousands of loaves of hot Roman Meal bread slide along conveyor belts toward machines that would cut them into 22 slices.

Tatum, who said 40 years as a baker have caused his own nose to filter out the plant’s fragrance, said the distinctive aroma comes from yeast, honey, sugar and other ingredients.

Other bakers whose companies were included on the air quality district’s list were also wondering what effect the new smog controls will have on them.

Mario Corradi, production manager of Martino’s Bakery in Burbank, said his firm produces muffins, pies and cakes, not breads.

But Martino’s has a small coffee shop next to its bakery that caters to passersby who are often lured in from the street by the enticing scent. “People who come in say, ‘Hmmmm, that sure smells good,’ ” bakery sales executive Rose Sturla said. “It makes them hungry.”

In North Hollywood, the Old Country bakery is surrounded by homes. Plant manager Jack Gazdik said his firm may spend up to $1 million on oven-vent equipment.

“We have to do what we have to do to clean up the environment,” Gazdik said. “I really feel strongly about that.”

Gazdik’s neighbors said they hope the crackdown doesn’t remove their community’s unique ambience.

“I smell it all the time and I love it,” said Megan Foley, whose back yard overlooks the Old Country bakery. “It’s one of the charming things about this neighborhood.

“If they take away the aroma, I’ll miss it. But I’m for anything that cuts down on smog.”