Be there or be square!
For Immediate Release:
December 17, 2007
Contact: Melissa Kelly-Ortega, (209) 261-7109, Lisa Kayser-Grant (209) 769-2233
MEDIA ADVISORY***MEDIA ADVISORY***
Community Leaders to Hold Clean Air Vigil
Advocates Will Urge Air District to Plan for Attainment of State Health Based PM 2.5 standards At Tuesday Workshop
Fresno, CA — On Tuesday, December 18, 2007, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District will be holding the first of a series of workshops to discuss their proposed State Implementation Plan. This Plan serves as the roadmap for attaining federal standards governing fine particulate matter pollution. The standards used in the plan, however, are no longer considered adequate to protect public health by either the federal Environmental Protection Agency or the California Air Resources Board. Community leaders will be urging the air district to amend the proposed plan to include a strategy for reducing fine particulate pollution to the levels currently considered to be protective of public health.
Community members will hold a vigil in remembrance of all those who have died and those who still suffer from the effects of breathing dirty wintertime air - PM 2.5. According to the Institute for Economic and Environmental Studies, the cost of air pollution averages $1,000 per person per year, and represents the following:
460 premature deaths among those age 30 and older
23,300 asthma attacks
188,000 days of school absences
3,230 cases of acute bronchitis in children
3,000 lost work days
325 new cases of chronic bronchitis
188,400 days of reduced activity in adults
260 hospital admissions
More than 17,000 days of respiratory symptoms in children
What: Vigil with community members
When: Media Availability: Tuesday, December 18 at 5:30 p.m. and throughout the workshop.
Air District Workshop: 6:30pm
Where: In front of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District:
Central Region Office, 1990 E. Gettysburg Ave., Fresno
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