Health Officials’ Intervention Over Air Pollution Coming Years Too Late, Residents Say
Officials have recently stepped in to address cancer-causing toxins in Paramount, but many complain that if the county had done its job earlier there wouldn't be a problem to fix.
Los Angeles Times:
Agencies Were Urged To Address Paramount Metal Emissions Years Before Air Toxics Scare
The recent discovery of high levels of a cancer-causing pollutant in Paramount has alarmed residents and led authorities to crack down on dangerous emissions from two metal-processing plants.But the interventions last week by air regulators and health officials followed years of slow and sporadic steps by several agencies in response to health concerns, say residents and activists in the small city southeast of Los Angeles. If regulators had done their jobs properly, they say, they might have found out years ago that toxic emissions from metal businesses were putting neighbors at risk — and taken action. (Barboza, 12/4)
And in other news —
KQED:
Oil Spill, Sickening Odor Prompt Vallejo To Consider Buying New Air Monitors
Vallejo officials are considering buying a new set of air monitoring devices because the ones they do have did not pick up any measurements from an odor that sickened dozens of residents around the same time an oil spill was discovered in San Pablo Bay in September. That smell prompted the local government to urge people to stay indoors. Its cause is still a mystery, and a top Vallejo city official calls that lack of knowledge “alarming.” (Goldberg, 12/2)