End of Ozone Season in Nevada County

Good morning to one and all,

I thought it might be nice to give everyone an update on how our ozone season went this year. I think it was the most unusual season anyone has seen in a long while, perhaps ever. It started out like a typical season. We had one day in April and one day in May where the ozone AQI drifted barely into the Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (USG) range. Then in the middle of June we had 3 days in a row where the ozone AQI went as high as 184, which is in the Unhealthy (for everybody) range. Perhaps that was a portent of something much worse to come. As you all remember, on the afternoon of Saturday, June 21, 2008, northern California was assaulted by a dry lightning storm of unprecedented scope and intensity. By the end of that storm most of northern California was smoldering under a dark, smoky sky.

During the course of the next few weeks over 1000 fires (2000 fires?) would burn our state with an unassailable fury. The result was the absolute worst air quality event that I have seen in my short 50 years in California. The fires continued with varying degrees of ferocity for the next 4 weeks, with millions of people's activities held hostage by an omnipresent gloom of high particulate values made worse by unprecedented levels of ozone. When the air finally cleared we had experienced 28 days where the ozone levels exceeded an AQI of 100 and we hadn't even entered our "bad" part of the ozone season. The rest of the year wasn't too bad, but it wasn't nearly as clean as many previous years. We finished up our season with a total of 42 days exceeding the federal ozone standard. That is 14 more days than our previous historic high.

But the ozone wasn't even the worst of it. The particulate levels were so high that air monitoring instruments around the state were failing because of excessive particle loading on the filters. In many places around the state the particulate levels reached into the Hazardous range. In our air district we spent hundreds of hours with particulate levels in the Very Unhealthy range, with some days in the Hazardous range. Think of that whole event as a small taste of what our world would be like without air pollution laws, as in Beijing, Mexico City or Athens. Think of that whole event as a reminder of how important it is for the USFS and CalFire to achieve their fuels reduction goals through the use of prescribed fire.

As long as we are on the topic of fire (here comes the lecture), let's talk about fire or more specifically, smoke from fire. As much as we support all the alternatives to residential open burning, it might surprise you to know that the Air District does not support a total ban on all burning. Fire has an important role to play as a tool to reduce dangerous levels of vegetation, especially in wildlands. However, not every leaf and twig needs to be burned on a Saturday morning. For most people on property less than 1 acre in size there is no compelling need to burn your moderate quantities of leaves, pine needles and small branches. Of course, it is always very important to keep your property fire safe, but you don't need to smoke out your neighbors to accomplish that goal. I know that for some people (I have met them) burning a pile of leaves is cheap entertainment, possibly even the highlight of their week. But forcing the neighbors to close their windows, reach for their inhalers and wash their drapes (again!) will never be an acceptable use of one's free time.

Before you even think of burning your leaves and pine needles, please give some thought to utilizing a green waste pickup service (dirt cheap at around $3.40/month from Waste Management) or even better, enrich the soil for future generations by composting your vegetation. Scratching away your property to bare ground is just a misguided way to promote erosion and track mud into your house. I don't want to belabor the point, I think you all know right from wrong, it's just that some folks don't want to practice good judgment when it interfers with their desires. I will leave you now with this observation born of 22 years of responding to smoke complaints: in all my years I have never seen anyone, from the most simple to the sophisticated, stand downwind of their fire. Hmmm?

It's time to put this air pollution season to bed and let's hope we never see another one like it.

Good day.

Joe Fish, Deputy Air Pollution Control Officer

P.S. Please remember to always call the burn recorder before burning. You can't tell whether or not it is a burn day just by looking out your window or watching your neighbor burning.

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