UPDATED: With SCAQMD Comments; NRDC, Phys. For Social Resp-LA + Communities for Better Environment Charge U.S. EPA Is Letting SCAQMD Avoid Monitoring Freeway Pollutants, Seek Fed'l Appeal Court Review

Groups want fwy monitors for pollutants impacting those living nearby

[Editor's note: This legal action has particular relevance for Long Beach, where residents are encircled by four freeways (710, 405, 91 and 605) with impacts amplified by cargo/Port related traffic and nearby ship pollution.]

(January 4, 2012, 9:15 a.m., updated 5:40 p.m.) -- The Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles and Communities for a Better Environment are asking a federal appeals court to review an action by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency that, the groups say in a separate release, lets the South Coast Air Quality Management Agency avoid monitoring pollutants from area freeways whose impacts are especially harmful to those living nearby.

The Petition for Review cites the Clean Air Act and federal rules of appellate procedure in asking the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review the U.S. EPA's Nov. 1, 2011 approval of SCAQMD's 2011 Annual Air Quality Monitoring Network Plan.

In an accompanying release, the groups contend the EPA is letting SCAQMD "ignore high levels of air pollution breathed by those living near freeways. NRDC and local advocates have sought to ensure air monitors are placed along the region’s highways to better inform the local air district about the hazardous levels of particulate air pollution, and to arm them with the information necessary to take action to protect the region’s residents."

An NRDC release states:

Pollution produced by the region’s millions of diesel and gasoline powered vehicles cause a heavy health burden for everyone living in Southern California, but evidence shows that it harms families and individuals living within approximately 300 yard of LA’s heavily-trafficked roadways even more. Although these families and other advocates have repeatedly asked for monitors to be placed along the roadways to determine exactly how much pollution comes from these roadways, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has refused to do so."

[UPDATE]: In comments invited by LBReport.com, SCAQMD Media Relations Mgr. Sam Atwood emailed:

"AQMD has fully complied with EPA requirements. In addition, AQMD conducts many air monitoring studies that are not required by EPA to investigate areas of possible air pollution "hot spots." Studies by AQMD and others have shown that levels of ultrafine particles and diesel soot -- but not PM2.5 -- are significantly elevated near major roadways. For this reason AQMD plans to monitor ultrafine particles near major roadways as part of its upcoming MATES IV air toxics study." [end UPDATE]

"How will the EPA protect us against air pollution if they won’t even measure how much is in the air?" asked Adrian Martinez, staff attorney with NRDC. "On many days, smog blankets our region, but without monitors, we have no way to know what is in our air. People living near freeways inhale extremely unhealthy levels of air pollution every day, yet our regulators refuse to act."

"The science on this is clear, said Martha Dina Arguello, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles, quoted in the release. "People who breathe this polluted air suffer the staggering health impacts of air pollution at every phase of life. We know that women who live near heavy traffic roadways have a greater risk of having a low birth weight child and the child is more likely to develop asthma. Over a lifetime, living with this pollution also increases the likelihood of adult onset asthma, heart attacks, cancer and premature death. The evidence strongly suggests that people -- especially children and seniors -- who live near these roadways are exposed to much higher levels of pollution and therefore much more vulnerable to the impacts of pollution. It’s unconscionable that the EPA refuses to collect the information necessary to protect people’s health," Arguello added.

"Without monitors, regulators can ignore whether air quality for the more than 1.2 million people who live near high-traffic roadways despite the Clean Air Act’s mandate that all residents breathe healthy air. This litigation seeks to ensure that the EPA follows the letter," the NRDC release says.

"We’ve provided the EPA the studies that show that the air quality along freeways can be really bad—much worse than almost everywhere else. But they refuse to monitor our air. Why?," asked Mark Lopez of Communities for a Better Environment. "Monitors would allow all of us to know if there is a problem. If not -- great! But if there is, we can work together to address it. We just want our children and families to be safe. Why won’t they collect the information needed to make sure that we’re safe?," added Lopez.

LBReport.com this morning invited reaction from SCAQMD (response pending, will be added here as received) Reaction from EPA wasn't immediately available. .