STOCKTON, Calif. — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Wednesday new air quality standards that could make a significant impact in the San Joaquin Valley.
The EPA is strengthening its limits on fine particle pollution, also known as soot, which comes from fossil fuel, factories, agriculture and wildfires. It’s one of the most widespread deadly air pollutants linked to heart attacks and asthma.
Supporters hope the move will provide relief to 2 million asthmatics in California, including April Love and her eldest daughter.
“It’s been a roller coaster. One minute it’s getting better, the next minute it’s getting worse. It’s just more and more medication,” said Love.
Love lives in San Joaquin County, an area with the second highest concentrations of asthmatics in the state. Some of the worst air quality is in south Stockton.
“This is home. I've lived here all my life, but I’ve been told by doctors the older and older I get, I won’t be able to live in San Joaquin County due to the high air pollution,” said Love.
Dr. Shyamsunder Subramanian, a pulmonologist with Sutter Health, says unfortunately patients do ask him if they should move.
“Unfortunately, we have to agree with that and say this is not a great place for you because of the air pollution,” said Subramanian. “It’s an explosion of asthma."
He says folks who move to the San Joaquin Valley will most likely become asthmatic within two years. He says air pollution is not only costly for the state but for patients, too.
“The cost of inhalers in this country is atrocious. They retail for $500 or $600 and even with the best insurance a lot of patients are paying $200 a month. For people in the San Joaquin Valley that’s groceries or rent,” said Subramanian.
“I don’t have that, I can’t afford that,” said Love.
It’s why she is in the DAWN program or Decreasing Asthma Within Neighborhoods out of the Little Manila Rising organization. They provide resources like air purifiers and helping people assess their living situations for greater success, going as far as to schedule home visits to help set people up with the best chance to handle their condition.
Jazmarie LaTour is the Asthma Mitigation Director with the program.
“You (wouldn't) think the air quality would be so vastly different from north to south Stockton,” said LaTour.
The organization agrees the new EPA standard is a step in the right direction. Bill Magavern with the Clean Air Coalition says people of color and lower income communities have been disproportionately impacted by pollution from smoke stacks, factories and living near freeways for decades.
“Historically bearing the brunt of the bad health consequences of air pollutions. That is a result of decades of discrimination have put less desirable land uses in neighborhoods populated by people of color and lower income folks,” said Magavern.
The coalition says to meet the new standards, power plants and large factories will need to be cleaned up. Transportation that relies on diesel is one of the biggest offenders. They are pushing for more clean air vehicles.
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and California Air Resource Board will be responsible for implementing the standard.
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