SCAQMD STUDY DETAILS AIR POLLUTION PROBLEMS SANTA CLARITA GENERATES ONLY 2%-10% OF IMPURITIES.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The South Coast Air Quality Management District will host a local town-hall meeting this month to present a recent study of the Santa Clarita Valley, which has some of the most polluted air in Los Angeles County.

The meeting, scheduled Aug. 30, is intended to offer residents a look at the agency's Santa Clarita Subregional Analysis, an in-depth study of the region's air quality problems, the impact of housing development and a proposed gravel mine in Soledad Canyon, and possible solutions.

``The analysis was designed to seek out some of the questions that are most troubling to the folks in Santa Clarita, and tries to address those questions,'' Joe Casmassi, a senior meteorologist at AQMD said Thursday.

``This plan is what the AQMD does to really focus on polluted areas,'' said Heather Merenda, sustainability planner for the city of Santa Clarita, who called for the town-hall meeting. ``This meeting is the result of a year and a half worth of work.''

Between Jan. 1 and Aug. 10, the Santa Clarita Valley recorded 42 days of ozone levels that exceeded federal standards, compared to 36 in the same period last year. In 2003, 48 days exceeding standards were tallied in that time.

The Los Angeles Basin saw 63 days of excessive ozone levels this year, 60 days last year and 76 days in 2003.

The study completed in November 2004 confirmed that the layer of smog that hangs above the Santa Clarita Valley is mostly generated by San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles traffic, which is swept in by easterly ocean winds. Local emissions contribute to about 2 percent of the ozone and 10 percent of particulate pollution.

Ozone is an invisible, reactive gas that plays a vital role in the stratosphere in shielding Earth from radiation. But it's toxic and can cause health problems, especially for those with asthma and other respiratory ailments.

Particulates - solid or liquid particles of soot, dust, smoke, fumes and aerosols - enter and irritate the lungs, as well as the eyes and nasal passages. They form a visible, smoggy blanket seen overhead.

City officials have blamed air flows that blow pollutants from Los Angeles north to this valley.

``Their cars, their trucks are all contributing to pollution in our valley,'' Merenda said. ``We need a regional solution for that. I'm not saying it's easy, but it's reality.

``We only really produce 2 percent of the problem in the Santa Clarita Valley. You can double the amount of cars, and it will still not constitute the kind of numbers where we contribute to violating the air standards.''

The study also found development planned in the region over the next 25 years and a large gravel mine proposed by Cemex Inc. east of the city could cause violations of state air standards, but not federal standards.

It recommended some fixes, such as controlling dust at construction sites and diesel exhaust.

``You're going to be helping out in the immediate impact in the area,'' Casmassi said. ``It's something you can immediately see, so there is a lot of benefit to it.''

But real change is only possible by enacting reforms at the state and federal levels. Merenda believes residents need to make their concerns heard.

``It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to have the air quality district board here ready to listen to us,'' she said. ``Without their support, nothing will change.''

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

The town-hall meeting hosted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the city of Santa Clarita is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 30 at the College of the Canyons performing arts center, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Valencia.

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IF YOU GO (see text)