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.
The letter will outline several of what Waage considers flaws in the study, flaws that he said could make the air district vulnerable to a lawsuit by State Parks. These include reliance on wind speed measurements outside the riding area and flawed comparisons of dust levels coming off riding and nonriding areas.
“I’m concerned that, unless we get this right, we are going to end up in court,” Waage said.
State Parks officials have also found fault with the air study. They have requested using best management practices to reduce dust rather than enforceable rules.
“The necessity for a rule, in my mind, does not exist at this point,” said Andy Zilke, Oceano Dunes superintendent.
Larry Allen, county air pollution control officer, defended the dust study, saying it is the result of a decade of work, which has been verified by three independent scientific groups. It found that vehicle riding breaks up a naturally forming crust, making the sand more likely to become airborne.
“Everything we have seen indicates that vehicle activities are responsible for the high particulate levels, and we have to respond to protect public health,” he said.
The air district is not trying to shut down Oceano Dunes, Allen said. The park would only be liable if unhealthy dust levels from the riding area exceed background levels.
The air district board will meet Nov. 16, and an update on the Oceano Dunes dust rule will be on the agenda.
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
Be the first to know what's going on in San Luis Obispo County. Just tell us how you want to find out — we'll take care of the rest.
Sign up for breaking news alerts from SanLuisObispo.com and get the latest news sent to your cell phone via text message.
By signing up for alerts from this site, you are signing up for a program that may include up to 5 SMS text alert(s) per alert category per day. There is no service fee charged per month but your carrier's standard text messaging and other charges may apply. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending the text message "STOP" to 72737. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use our alert services. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you agree that you have received parental permission both to complete the registration process and to receive SMS content on your cell phone. For help, send the text message "HELP" to 72737. This service will work with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Alltell, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Boost, Virgin Mobile USA, Celluar South, Telos, Centennial, East Kentucky Network, Cellcom, Immix and Rural Celluar.
E-mail »
Twitter »
Facebook »
iTribune »
Subscribe »
RSS »
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.