East Kern Air District rejects Grand Jury advice
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East Kern Pollution District Board of Directors members (from left) Zack Scrivner, Marshall Holloway, Ed Grimes, and Jon McQuiston discuss a Kern County Grand Jury proposal that would combine East Kern Air Pollution District with the West Kern Air Pollution District, essentially joining East Kern with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. The board came out against the Grand Jury recommendation.
The East Kern Air Pollution Control Board voted to reject a proposal by the Grand Jury to combine the East Kern and West Kern Air Pollution Districts at its meeting in Tehachapi on Jan. 12. The board will send a letter to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court responding to the recommendations, findings and comments by the 2011-2012 Grand Jury.
The East Kern district includes 48 communities, including Mojave, California City, Ridgecrest, Rosamond, Tehachapi and Kern River Valley, as well as a number of smaller unincorporated areas. The western portion of Kern County falls under the jurisdiction of another the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, which covers areas from Arvin to the western borders of the county, and includes parts of Tulare, Kings, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.
The Grand Jury had examined the two districts and issued a reported in Oct. 2011, stating it would be “logical” to combine the two districts.
The Grand Jury questioned why there were two different agencies governing air quality in Kern County while much of the state is broken down into broader areas.
David Jones, the Air Pollution Control Officer for the EKAPCD, noted that the Kern County Board of Supervisors made a decision to split the county back in 1991 because of the major differences in the two areas. He pointed out that the western portion consisted of more oil refineries, while the eastern section had cement plants and borax mining.
County Supervisor for District One and Board Director Jon McQuiston said, “I don’t see any logic to it. It’s just not feasible.” He was joined by District Two Supervisor and board president Zack Scrivner who said.
“I don’t think it had any bad intentions when it released its report,” he said. “I just think it was misinformed to the particulars of the two different areas.”
Board Vice Chairmen and Ridgecrest Councilman, Marshall “Chip” Holloway said, “Combining the East Kern air district with that of the San Joaquin Valley is just laughable.” Holloway is Vice-Chairman of the Eastern Kern Air Pollution Control District. “The recommendations of the Grand Jury to combine the two air districts into one is not logical and is cost prohibitive.”
Jones said, “If the two were combined there could be some severe restrictions concerning ozone emissions. Both these areas have such different concerns for air quality. It could have a negative impact on Edwards Air Force Base, China Lake Naval Base and the Mojave Air & Space Port, along with other businesses in East Kern. So on behalf of the East Kern Air Pollution Control Board, I’ve drafted a letter opposing the Grand Jury’s recommendations.”
The board voted 4-0 to send the letter to the Superior Court opposing the recommended combining of the districts. Board Member Patrick Bohannon of California City was absent.
It was noted that California City and the Mojave Air and Space Port have along with the City of Tehachapi have also sent letters opposing the recommendation.
The next meeting of the board is scheduled for 1 p.m. on March 8 at the Ridgecrest City Hall, 100 West California Ave, Ridgecrest.
