The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District has just issued the following press release concerning the air pollution risks from fireworks:

Photo © Frank Maccioli

Air officials ask Valley residents to consider negative health effects of fireworks

Fireworks elevate PM levels and threaten public health

This Independence Day, Air District officials remind Valley residents that July 4^th fireworks can increase levels of dangerous particulate matter (PM), including soot, ash and metals, which cause serious health impacts. Individuals most at risk are small children, the elderly and people with existing respiratory conditions.

“If Valley residents feel the need to enjoy fireworks, we urge them to exhibit their patriotism by attending a professional Independence Day event in their area instead of using personal fireworks,” said Samir Sheikh, the District’s Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer. “Each year, people suffer serious health consequences from direct exposure in the neighborhoods where they live and breathe… from firework activities that are entirely preventable.”

Fine particulate matter can invade the bloodstream, get deep into the lungs and has been linked to heart attacks and stroke. Each year on the Fourth of July, air monitors across the Valley reflect spikes in PM concentrations, often four to five times higher than the health-based federal standards, and typically occur between the hours of 9 and 10 pm. These spikes are due in part to personal fireworks used throughout Valley neighborhoods and the high levels of PM threaten the Valley’s progress in meeting air-quality standards that protect public health. (An attached graph illustrates a typical increase in PM following fireworks).

The District’s Real-time Air Advisory Network (RAAN) provides localized air quality data from an extensive air-monitoring network which allows Valley residents to track PM at any Valley address by visiting myraan.org.

For more information about the Air District, call a regional office in Fresno (559) 230-6000, Modesto (209) 557-6400 or Bakersfield (661) 392-5500.

New California ballot measure will let paint companies off the hook for lead cleanup, charge taxpayers instead

In an attempt to avoid spending hundreds of millions of dollars to remove hazardous lead paint from California homes, two of the liable companies have successfully qualified a ballot initiative for this November that would transfer the responsibility to taxpayers.

Photo credit:  USEPA Environmental-Protection-Agency (Lead Paint) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


Sherwin-Williams and ConAgra collected enough signatures to qualify the measure,which would upend their court ordered obligations for the clean up of homes built before 1951. The two companies, along with NL Industries, had been successfully sued by Los Angeles, San Francisco, and 8 other areas and found liable for creating a public nuisance.

The courts found that the companies knowingly sold and advertised lead paint, despite having knowledge that it had serious health effects, especially in children.

Lead paint was banned for home use in 1978.

If approved by California voters, the measure would authorize a $2 billion taxpayer funded loan to pay for the cleanup.

The proponents of the measure have argued that it will provide sufficient funding not only for lead paint removal but also for the removal of mold and other hazards from homes and schools throughout the state and not just in the cities that won the lawsuit.

However, the companies and legislators are reportedly negotiating legislation that would limit their liability to $500 million over the next decade, overturn the court ruling, and absolve them from additional liability. If successful, they will be able to remove the initiative from the ballot but it must be done by tomorrow, June 28.

Free Smog Repairs, this Saturday!

This Saturday!

For more info: http://valleycan.org/

Environmental film festival in Santa Monica on April 21, 2018

If you are interested in the environment and film, the second annual Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival may be worth your time.




Open to the public, the festival will take place at Laemmle's Monica Film Center in Santa Monica from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 21, 2018.

The festival will feature a variety of free and nominal cost environmental shorts, four acclaimed films, and two back-to-back episodes of KCET and Link TV's "Earth Focus." The latter is the longest running environmental news program on U.S. television.

For a complete program listing and ticket information, please check this link:

Earth Focus Environmental Film Festival