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City’s air fails quality check
Report shows Burbank to have the second-worst levels of toxicity in the Southland after Fontana.
By Jeremy Oberstein
BURBANK — Officials are breathing a sigh of discontent after a January South Coast Air Quality Management District report showed Burbank’s air quality is one of the worst in Southern California.
The report — in which residents are encouraged to give their input for another month — shows that Burbank’s air quality, mostly owing to its proximity to some of the busiest freeways in California, is well above average levels of toxicity and second only to Fontana in San Bernardino County.
Residents now have until April 4 to submit comments on the report.
“It’s not good news,” City Manager Mary Alvord said. “But our city has two freeways going through it and we’re part of a regional plan that moves people through Los Angeles.”
The air quality district conducted its study over two years at 10 sites throughout Southern California, including a Burbank location, downtown Los Angeles, Wilmington and parts of Long Beach.
From April 2004 to March 2006, they collected more than 18,000 air samples and performed about 36,500 analyses on the samples, according to the agency’s Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study III.
The study found that high levels of toxicity in Burbank from diesel engines, most likely from trucks rumbling through Burbank on the Golden State (5) Freeway are the culprit, but pollution from Bob Hope Airport also plays a part, air quality district spokesman Sam Atwood said.
“The 5 Freeway carries a lot of truck traffic,” he said. “Those trucks emit diesel exhaust, which causes cancer and accounts for 80% of risk. But there would also be some contribution from the airport.”
Officials at Bob Hope Airport have taken steps to reduce emissions but are resigned to the fact that pollution from airplanes is out of their hands.
The airport has replaced its shuttle bus fleets, which run from the parking lots to the terminals, with cleaner-burning vehicles that run on low sulfur fuel that have cut emissions by 96%, and has launched an electric charging system to get airlines to convert from diesel to electric equipment used for hauling baggage and towing planes into parking positions, airport spokesman Victor Gill said.
“But the airport is not responsible for regulating airplane emissions,” he said. “Their number one priority is safety, number two is efficiency, three is noise and now, having to do with an awareness on behalf of the general public, environmental standards are getting greater recognition.”
Development in Burbank and neighboring cities was also a contributing factor to the city’s air toxicity, Atwood said.
But Ramos questioned the air quality district’s findings that construction in Burbank contributed to its poor air quality.
“Glendale is far outpacing us in terms of development,” she said. “Pollution gets stuck in our valley. We’re situated against the foothills. Everybody’s pollution gets stuck here.”
It’s not just the trucks, but the types of vehicles that are traveling through the region, such as older diesel trucks that emit grimier pollutants, Atwood said.
“There are standards in place now that require newer and cleaner diesel trucks,” he said, of the air quality district’s efforts to stress the phasing out of older trucks. “These are starting to make a difference.”
Burbank is also doing its part to clean its own air, Mayor Marsha Ramos said.
“Historically, our air quality has been challenged,” she said. “We have moved in the direction of giving incentives to dry cleaners to convert from a wet dry cleaning system to a dry system but that’s minuscule in comparison to mobile air sources. We are taking this very seriously and all future development will be taken into account.”
The city also has an employee carpool program and encourages its workers to take public transportation or bicycle to work, Alvord said.
For its efforts in cleaning the air, Burbank has been recognized in the past.
In February, Burbank was recognized by the American Lung Assn. of California for its efforts to reduce smoking and clean its air and in October, the air quality district honored Burbank for its hydrogen fueling stations and use of hydrogen-powered and clean-gas vehicles.
But efforts to clean Burbank’s air are complicated by its regional placement, Alvord said.
“Look at where we are,” she said. “We don’t stand a chance. We’re not making great strides, but you have to keep at it.”
Comments can be sent to Health Effects Officer Dr. Jean Ospital at jospital@aqmd.gov.
The final report will be presented to the board of directors this summer.
JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers City Hall and public safety. He may be reached at (818) 637-3242 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@ latimes.com.
The report — in which residents are encouraged to give their input for another month — shows that Burbank’s air quality, mostly owing to its proximity to some of the busiest freeways in California, is well above average levels of toxicity and second only to Fontana in San Bernardino County.
Residents now have until April 4 to submit comments on the report.
“It’s not good news,” City Manager Mary Alvord said. “But our city has two freeways going through it and we’re part of a regional plan that moves people through Los Angeles.”
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From April 2004 to March 2006, they collected more than 18,000 air samples and performed about 36,500 analyses on the samples, according to the agency’s Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study III.
The study found that high levels of toxicity in Burbank from diesel engines, most likely from trucks rumbling through Burbank on the Golden State (5) Freeway are the culprit, but pollution from Bob Hope Airport also plays a part, air quality district spokesman Sam Atwood said.
“The 5 Freeway carries a lot of truck traffic,” he said. “Those trucks emit diesel exhaust, which causes cancer and accounts for 80% of risk. But there would also be some contribution from the airport.”
Officials at Bob Hope Airport have taken steps to reduce emissions but are resigned to the fact that pollution from airplanes is out of their hands.
The airport has replaced its shuttle bus fleets, which run from the parking lots to the terminals, with cleaner-burning vehicles that run on low sulfur fuel that have cut emissions by 96%, and has launched an electric charging system to get airlines to convert from diesel to electric equipment used for hauling baggage and towing planes into parking positions, airport spokesman Victor Gill said.
“But the airport is not responsible for regulating airplane emissions,” he said. “Their number one priority is safety, number two is efficiency, three is noise and now, having to do with an awareness on behalf of the general public, environmental standards are getting greater recognition.”
Development in Burbank and neighboring cities was also a contributing factor to the city’s air toxicity, Atwood said.
But Ramos questioned the air quality district’s findings that construction in Burbank contributed to its poor air quality.
“Glendale is far outpacing us in terms of development,” she said. “Pollution gets stuck in our valley. We’re situated against the foothills. Everybody’s pollution gets stuck here.”
It’s not just the trucks, but the types of vehicles that are traveling through the region, such as older diesel trucks that emit grimier pollutants, Atwood said.
“There are standards in place now that require newer and cleaner diesel trucks,” he said, of the air quality district’s efforts to stress the phasing out of older trucks. “These are starting to make a difference.”
Burbank is also doing its part to clean its own air, Mayor Marsha Ramos said.
“Historically, our air quality has been challenged,” she said. “We have moved in the direction of giving incentives to dry cleaners to convert from a wet dry cleaning system to a dry system but that’s minuscule in comparison to mobile air sources. We are taking this very seriously and all future development will be taken into account.”
The city also has an employee carpool program and encourages its workers to take public transportation or bicycle to work, Alvord said.
For its efforts in cleaning the air, Burbank has been recognized in the past.
In February, Burbank was recognized by the American Lung Assn. of California for its efforts to reduce smoking and clean its air and in October, the air quality district honored Burbank for its hydrogen fueling stations and use of hydrogen-powered and clean-gas vehicles.
But efforts to clean Burbank’s air are complicated by its regional placement, Alvord said.
“Look at where we are,” she said. “We don’t stand a chance. We’re not making great strides, but you have to keep at it.”
Comments can be sent to Health Effects Officer Dr. Jean Ospital at jospital@aqmd.gov.
The final report will be presented to the board of directors this summer.
JEREMY OBERSTEIN covers City Hall and public safety. He may be reached at (818) 637-3242 or by e-mail at jeremy.oberstein@ latimes.com.
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