Exceptional Event Demonstration for September 2017 Wildfire Exceedances

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Comment From: Brad Mellotte

9/14/18 @ 1:38 PM

The attached pdf contains my comments. Thank you.

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Comment From: Friends of Toppenish Creek (Jean Mendoza)

8/22/18 @ 11:15 AM

To Whom It May Concern: The Friends of Toppenish Creek is a 501 (C) 3 non-profit environmental group located in south Yakima County. Friends of Toppenish Creek is dedicated to protecting the rights of rural communities and improving oversight...↓ of industrial agriculture. FOTC operates under the simple principle that all people deserve clean air, clean water and protection from abuse that results when profit is favored over people. FOTC works through public education, citizen investigations, research, legislation, special events, and direct action. We take this opportunity to inform Ecology and the Environmental Protection about serious air quality issues in the Lower Yakima Valley. In Yakima County the Clean Air Act is enforced by the Yakima Regional Clean Air Agency (YRCAA). South Yakima County is home to 35% of all Washington dairy cows. There are about 100,000 milk cows plus an equal number of support animals in a 273 square mile area. The dairy industry brings to the area significant air pollution in the form of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) that is formed from ammonium and nitrate emissions, plus dust (PM 10) that is generated by the animals in pens and the turning of manure compost. We do not believe that Table 5 in Ecology's document Exceptional Event Demonstration for September 2017 PM10 Exceedances Due to Wildfires provides an accurate description of the anthropogenic source emissions for the Lower Yakima Valley. We believe that this table under-reports emissions of reactive nitrogen and dust from dairy operations. In 2013 and again in 2017 FOTC and others petitioned the YRCAA to ban spraying of manures into the air or broadcast spreading of manures during inversions and burn bans. YRCAA rejected our petition. Consequently dairymen are free to add to the already dangerous levels of particulate matter in the air during adverse air events. The wild fire events that are under discussion here are stark examples of the dangers to human health when airborne particulates reach certain levels. To be very clear: The wildfire events of September 5, 6 and 7, 2017 led to hazardous air quality for the people of south Yakima County. The agency with a mandate to protect the people could not do very much about the wildfires. However, they had the power to prevent addition of more significant pollution and they failed to do so. Thank you for hearing our plea. The Friends of Toppenish Creek

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Comment From: Colleen Reimer

8/20/18 @ 11:56 AM

Surely, you are not serious?! People suffering from lung diseases do not get a reprieve just because the WA. Dept of Ecology wants to ignore the real world and conform to mythical air quality ratings. Not only is this a preposterous idea, it could...↓

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Comment From: jan Whitefoot

8/19/18 @ 2:27 PM

WE believe wildfires desperately need to be included with the total count for exceedences of bad air quality days in the Yakima Valley because we have had wildfires for 3 years and they are no longer exceptional. Today our families were prisoners in ...↓our homes because the air quality was labeled too hazardous to go outside. My neighbor has asthma so bad she lost her job as a nurse. We have had bad air quality for over 2 solid weeks because of wildfires. This situation has become a crisis because of Ecology's fear of offending industry.Epa needs to step in and declare Yakima County as a non compliance air shed. The toppenish air monitor's non compliant days also need to be counted towards noncompliance since it is considered in the same airshed and is at a federal level. Yakima regional clean air authority collects a fee from the city of Toppenish, therefore toppenish' non compliance days would tip the scales towards non compliance. The air monitors in toppenish and Sunnyside need to be monitored by trustworthy organizations who would not have non compliant days counted because air monitors were conveniently broken on additional bad air days. These " Broken monitors" days need to be reviewed by an unbiased EPA panel. Yakima valley, over 90 concentrated animal feeding operations pollute all year round. They contribute to the pollution during forest fires also. The CDC/ AStdr is so concerned about Yakima Valley Cafo pollution, they just finished a study monitoring air pollution near factory farm dairies here locally. These results will be out shortly after Labor Day. The Yakima Valley Farmworker Clinic has supported a recent study of monitoring air quality in homes near Cafos in the lowerValley. John Hopkins's Dr. Deanna Williams did an air quality study in homes of the Yakima valley near dairy cafos. Pollution from dairies was found inside these homes. Per Yakima Herald article were Ecology spokeswoman said they wanted to support industry and we had pretty good air quality was criminal on Ecology's part. No where in the article did Ecology admit that Yakima County' s citizen's health should be protected. epa needs to step in and declare Ecology incapable of fairly determining non compliance. When I called Ecology to have them explain the compliance non compliance issue, they couldn't. I was referred to one person after another until they admitted that only 2 people in their office in the state of Washington could calculate noncompliance. We do not trust Ecology's track record of bias towards polluting industries. They have shown they are incapable of and do not care about protecting the health of citizens within the Yakima airshed. please, intervene, EPA. sincerely, Jan Whitefoot, CCYR

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Comment From: Anna Saenz

8/16/18 @ 10:51 AM

Within those 3 day's of pollution. It can take a toll on the citizens of Yakima and Kennewick health. I believe this should not go unnoticed and that we should take precautions for the fire's that seem to get worst every year.

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Comment From: Phil Souder

8/14/18 @ 1:16 AM

You gotta be kidding how do you stop a wildfire. This is an occurance not a constant event. This really shows how stupid our government is as well as the writers of this rule.

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