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Kellie Schmitt

Health Reporter

kschmitt@bakersfield.com

661-395-7319

Kellie grew up on the East Coast, and received a journalism and international studies degree from the University of Richmond, Virginia. She also studied in Argentina, and interned with the Buenos Aires Herald, a daily English newspaper.

Preliminary reading: Arvin's air equally bad

Last week, I wrote that the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District officials were heading out to Arvin to monitor the downtown's air. (http://tinyurl.com/3dyvcgf) They were responding to residents' complaints that the area's new monitor--located at Di Giorgio Elementary School --didn't accurately represent the air most people there breathe.

Some preliminary results from the mobile monitors are in, said Seyed Sadredin, the district's executive director. Last Wednesday, district officials placed a portable monitor in central Arvin on Meyer Street between Hood and Franklin Streets, and measured ozone from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. That monitor's hourly average clocked in at 95.4 ppb, which they rounded to 95.

Meanwhile, the reading at Di Giorgio was 94.5, rounded up to 95.

Sadredin's take: "Although a one-day comparison is not enough to reach an ultimate scientific conclusion, the data provides a reasonable preliminary indication that the permanent monitor at the Di Giorgio Elementary School is a good representative for ozone concentrations to which Arvin population is exposed to. We are hoping to more monitoring in the coming months to reach a more definitive conclusion."

The district may return at different times during the year to see if the realtionship between the two site stays consistent. If the district officials finds that the Di Giorgio site isn't accurate, they will do "everything we can" to find a better location for Arvin, Sadredin said.

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