EPA legislating dust control

[Spaugh 1]

Government gone wild. I guess the EPA has never been out to imperial county on a windy day.

http://www.ivpressonline.com/opinion/ivp-our-view-cleaner-skies-over-the-county-but-at-what-cost-20120918,0,2561015.story

[william 0]

Just drive to Phoenix any day and you will see tractors causing dust clouds for miles. I have never seen dust clouds leaving Superstition mountain area.

[Beta450 0]

This is another tactic from the Tree Huggers to shut down the desert. Most of the pollution in the Imperial Valley is coming from Mexico.

[Spaugh 1]

seems like dust and pollution are two different things. dust is non toxic and imperial valley is a barren desert. It gets dusty.

[Bubbagums 42]

We could solve the problem by getting rid of the EPA. That's my vote.

[Sneeker 29]

Hmmm... if you think about it, decades of pesticide and fertilizer use in the Imperial Valley leave a persistent residue that is kicked up every time a truck or tracker is used on ag land. Do ya really think that stuff just disappears?

This doesn't change the fact that OHV component is bull$hit. The OHV park has never had any agricultural uses on it and it's always been dusty with or without OHV use. Still, there is a concern out there on the ag fields. But since we can afford to live on the west side of the mountains and the coast who cares?

[Sneeker 29]

seems like dust and pollution are two different things. dust is non toxic and imperial valley is a barren desert. It gets dusty.

Ya, not always two different things.

The desert naturally distills many minerals and chemicals washed out of the mountains into dry lake beds over millions of years. Sometime this can be unhealthy if it's messed with by wind or otherwise. Two excellent examples are the Salton Sea and Owens Lake by Lone Pine. So yes, desert dust is toxic sometimes.

A Shrinking Sea Mean Toxic Dust

[PastaPilot 17]

The Salton Sea was once the most visited public park in the US. It is now "toxic" from the last 100 years of urban and agricultural runoff from the Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali Valleys. It's a sad place now that was identified as a problem nearly 70 years ago, but there was no EPA back then to protect California's resources. The EPA legislates air quality and identifies the sources of the pollutants. Whether it's automotive emissions and catalytic convertors or airborne dust and agricultural the EPA can control the use of the land.

Agriculture in the Imperial Valley isn't going away. If farmers have to water the roads they drive on to keep dust down expect food costs to increase as a result. Agriculture employs 1000s in the valley. Desert recreation is enjoyed by 100,000s, but might employ 100s of valley residents. Controlling agriculture will hurt the already struggling desert economy more than recreation.

[Beta450 0]

Very good responses from everyone. The dust pollution from agricultural use maybe toxic to a degree but the air pollution from Mexico is far worse on our health in the Imperial Valley. The EPA will not address the air pollution from Mexico because their are to many issues and how much is it going to cost?

[Spaugh 1]

new rules regarding D38 desert racing. the quarter mile stretch called "pit row" needs to be watered down to control dust. Pit row has a 10MPH speed limit already. The other 24.75 miles of course are wide open with no speed limits. The diesel being burned to move a truck full of water out to the desert is going to pollute a lot more than the dust moved around on pit row.

[SDlineman 0]

I agree it's retarded and will make a completely insignificant difference in the amount of dust produced in the entire Imperial valley, but it sounds like we got off pretty easy. I would think the bomb run would be a much more effective area to water. I am thinking the BLM just had to implement SOMETHING to show that they are trying to comply, knowing that nothing will really help.Do you know when that goes into effect?

[Spaugh 1]

I agree it's retarded and will make a completely insignificant difference in the amount of dust produced in the entire Imperial valley, but it sounds like we got off pretty easy. I would think the bomb run would be a much more effective area to water. I am thinking the BLM just had to implement SOMETHING to show that they are trying to comply, knowing that nothing will really help.Do you know when that goes into effect?

its goes into affect now. The OTB race in 2 weeks is required to have a water truck. That is 500$ we don't have to burn on moving a truck full of water out to the desert.