Committees to kick around ideas for Dunes dust

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• Officials proceed with Oceano Dunes dust rule work

  Officials proceed with Oceano Dunes dust rule work

  Despite two legal challenges, local agencies are moving full speed ahead to implement a new requirement to reduce dust blowing off Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

  State Parks is working to set up some mobile monitoring stations in the Dunes that will measure dust levels during the windy springtime when dust emissions are highest, said Dunes Superintendent Andy Zilke.

  Meanwhile, the county Air Pollution Control District is beginning a separate project to establish a series of temporary monitoring stations on the Nipomo Mesa that will allow the district to map the dust plume coming off the park, said Larry Allen, air pollution control officer.

• Review of Oceano Dunes dust control coming

  Review of Oceano Dunes dust control coming

  The county Air Pollution Control District will outline its plans Wednesday for reducing unhealthy levels of particulate pollution on the Nipomo Mesa.

  A public workshop will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ramona Garden Park Center, 993 Ramona Ave., Grover Beach.

  Air district officials will discuss the results of a recently completed pilot program in which three different methods for reducing dust emissions from Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area were tested.

• Pismo wary of adopting dust rule

  Pismo wary of adopting dust rule

  The Pismo Beach City Council is sending a letter to county air officials raising concerns about plans to hold the State Parks Department responsible for unnatural amounts of dust blowing off Oceano Dunes.

  The council Tuesday approved a letter urging the county Air Pollution Control District to delay adopting a rule that could subject Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area to fines of up to $1,000 a day. Council members said they favor a more collaborative approach.

  Councilman Ed Waage, who is also a member of the air district’s board of directors, has been a vocal critic of a scientific study done by the air district that linked dune riding in the park to unhealthy levels of dust on the Nipomo Mesa.

• Oceano Dunes enthusiasts sue air board on dust rule

  Oceano Dunes enthusiasts sue air board on dust rule

  A group of off-highway vehicle users has sued the county Air Pollution Control District in an effort to overturn a new rule controlling dust emissions from the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.

  Friends of Oceano Dunes filed the lawsuit Jan. 4 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court. It asks the court to throw out the dust rule adopted by the air district’s Board of Directors on Nov. 16 and prevent its implementation.

  The case has been assigned to Judge Charles S. Crandall.

• Air district to vote on Dunes dust rules today

  Air district to vote on Dunes dust rules today

  In what is likely to be a close vote, the county Air Pollution Control District board of directors will decide today whether to adopt a rule that would subject Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area to fines of up to $1,000 a day if excessive amounts of dust blow from the park.

  The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors chambers in the county government building on Monterey Street.

  If adopted, the rule would hold the state park responsible for levels of dust blowing off the Dunes on windy days that exceed certain limits. The rule is intended to reduce the number of days air quality on the Nipomo Mesa exceeds state health standards for particulate pollution.