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U.S. EPA PROPOSES TO APPROVE OWENS VALLEY DUST CONTROL PLAN

Release Date: 6/18/1999
Contact Information: Dave Schmidt, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1578

     BREAKTHROUGH WILL CLEAN UP WORST PARTICULATE AIR POLLUTION IN U.S.
     
   San Francisco -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed to approve an historic clean air plan for the Owens Valley, which has been plagued by dust storms rising from the dry bed of Owens Lake for over half a century.  These dust storms create the worst levels of particulate air pollution in the entire United States.  The plan reflects an agreement that was reached between the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and has been approved by the state Air Resources Board.

     "This plan is a tremendous breakthrough for everyone who breathes in the Owens Valley," said Felicia Marcus, Regional Administrator for EPA's western region. "It's great to see that after so many years of acrimony, all parties involved have left rhetoric behind to protect the health of Owens Valley residents.  Most important, action will be taken to reduce some of the nation's worst air pollution."

     The plan for the first time would apply dust control measures to the dry lake bed to reduce airborne particulate matter.  The control measures include shallow flooding, managed vegetation, and gravel cover on the lake bed.  These measures would prevent dust from being kicked up by winds in the affected areas.  

     Dust from the lake bed contains carcinogens such as nickel, cadmium, and arsenic, as well as salt, iron, calcium, potassium, sulfur, aluminum, and magnesium.  The dust particles are so small that several thousand of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.   These airborne particles can cause lung damage, increased respiratory disease and even premature death.  Children, the elderly, and people suffering from heart and lung disease, such as asthma, are especially at risk.  The extraordinarily high pollution levels recorded in and around the dry lake  bed during dust storms have at times been hundreds of times higher than national clean air standards.

     EPA's proposed approval gives interested parties a chance to comment on the plan before it becomes final.  The plan will be published in the Federal Register within a week to 10 days, and it will be posted within five days on EPA's regional website, www.epa.gov/region09.  Any written comments should be sent to EPA at the following address, or e-mailed to:
                                                               
Larry Biland
U.S. EPA, AIR-2
75 Hawthorne St.
San Francisco, CA 94105
biland.larry@epa.gov