AQMD'S BURKE VOWS TO GET TOUGH ON SMOG.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

On the heels of new research showing Southern California children can suffer permanent lung damage from breathing pollution, the head of the region's smog-fighting agency vowed on Friday to ``take off the gloves'' to help speed up clean-air improvements.

In his State of the Air report, William A. Burke said he would push critical air-pollution efforts, such as reducing emissions from railroads and ports and converting diesel-fueled school buses to cleaner-burning models.

``The time for political correctness has passed,'' Burke said in his speech given in Diamond Bar. ``The time has come to take off the gloves and tell the plain truth about what needs to be done to improve air quality.''

He wants to draft a Children's Bill of Air Quality Rights, and make an emotional plea to lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., to cut air pollution for the sake of young Southern Californians.

And the South Coast Air Quality Management District will hit the road, Burke said, holding board meetings throughout the four-county region at which residents can voice their concerns directly to the agency's leaders.

``We get an earful at every board meeting from the hired lobbyists of industry,'' he said. ``I want to hear directly from the residents who bear the brunt of air pollution.''

Burke's initiative is in response to new research that found that children who grew up in the smoggiest areas of Southern California were more likely to have weaker lungs, a chronic problem that could make them more susceptible to health problems in their 40s and 50s.

Environmentalists said Burke's idea is a good one but that they want to see real pollution cuts - not just talk.

``All the studies point to the need for real action and we support the chairman if that's what he's planning to do,'' said Nidia Bautista with the Coalition for Clean Air.

In recent years, AQMD leaders have complained that state and federal officials weren't doing enough to curtail pollution from automobiles, trains, ships and airplanes - sources that make up 80 percent of the region's smog.

Under Burke's initiative, district leaders are expected to challenge legislators, the automobile industry, businesses and residents to do more to cut emissions. Each of the 12 district board members will get a month to speak out on the air quality issues of their choice.

``I'll focus on pollution from truck traffic, plating companies in proximity to schools and the rates of asthma of children in South Los Angeles and the cause and effect of that,'' said Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents the city on the AQMD board.

She also wants the AQMD to spend more time in South and East Los Angeles, so residents there can learn how the district can cut pollution in their neighborhood.

Also Friday, the AQMD adopted rules to cut dust from some 400 sand and gravel operations, including mining facilities and concrete and asphalt plants.

The rules are intended to reduce levels of particulate matter, a component of air pollution that has been linked to increased emergency room visits for respiratory and heart problems.

Businesses will have to prevent dust plumes from moving 100 feet away from the source, use dust suppressants, sweep paved roads daily and use wheel washers to prevent trucks from tracking dust onto public streets.

Some Sun Valley residents said they hope the new rules will successfully lessen dust from the area's sand and gravel crushing operations.

``You see it on the road - there's dust all over the place,'' said Jerry Piro, a Sun Valley activist. ``I've read a lot that the fine particles get into your lungs and cause all kinds of problems. I don't need that kind of stuff. And little kids shouldn't be suffering from air pollution, either.''

The AQMD board also voted to cut 7.7 tons of pollutants from the region's most serious smog-producers over the next six years. That will be a 20 percent reduction over 2003 levels of pollution allowed from the region's biggest operations.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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OZONE LEVELS FROM 1976 TO 2004

SOURCE: South Coast Air Quality Management District