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Friday, July 31, 2009 Newport studying effects of jet fuel residue on areas near JWA Food for Thought By BARBARA VENEZIA CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST When I first moved to Santa Ana Heights in 1993, I was puzzled by the mysterious black soot collecting on my patio furniture. Nothing like this ever graced my backyard in Laguna Niguel. I started obsessing on keeping the furniture clean and was surprised when my neighbor explained the stuff falling from the sky was residue from jet fuel. Each week I'd be out there, rag in hand, trying to stay ahead of it. I'm not sure when it happened, but the soot worsened and now cleaning is on the daily to-do list. I'm more obsessed with the gross gunk than before and even developed my own cleaning technique to battle this nastiness. I wipe the majority of the dust away with a dry paper towel to avoid a muddy mess, and then clean with Formula 409 spray. I stopped using rags a few years ago when I found I could no longer get them clean. Seems no matter how much I bleached and pre soaked, they were permanently stained by this black dust. That's when I started to wonder, "If this crud's doing this to a rag, who knows what it's doing to everything in its path, me included! Apparently I'm not the only one wondering if what's falling from the sky is harmful. The city of Newport Beach, along with airport consultant Tom Edwards, is spearheading an approximately $52,000 study to be conducted by noted scientist Dr. Karleen Boyle-Sudol. The study hopes to answer the environmental impact questions regarding the pollution coming from the estimated 150 jets that pass over head from JWA each day. The study proposes a detailed air sampling using EPA approved MiniVols (air samplers placed in certain locations) to measure "ambient particulate air pollution and associated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ("PAHs") and heavy metals." Six MiniVols will be placed near the airport from Santa Ana Heights Fire Station to the beach in Newport. "Dr. Boyle's study at LAX used a similar design and did find statistically significant differences between the amount of particle-bound heavy metals in air samples near the airport vs. samples adjacent to a freeway with a high volume of diesel truck traffic." According to www.californiaskywatch.com (a website dedicated to preserving a healthy environment), jet emission pollutants contain ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, which can cause health issues affecting the eyes, cardiovascular system, lungs and even premature mortality. So what happens if the science comes back proving these toxins are slowly poising us? Will JWA shut down? Tom Edwards says "No. However the county will have to deal with the issue of future expansion and its impacts as well as incorporating certain mitigating measures to deal with the impacts established by the base line of actual data." But could this be the answer to curtailing expansion of JWA and renegotiating the settlement agreement sooner than later? Or could this backfire as property values plummet once word is out that living the dream in Newport is actually a nightmare of potential health issues down the road? Either way I guess I still have to keep cleaning my patio furniture! Barbara Venezia's editorial column appears online and in The Current every Friday. |
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