Nestled near both San Francisco and Los Angeles, this valley is like a bowl of pollution stew. All of the smog from the major cities carries over and settle in the lower area, mingling with the heavy diesel pollution from the local agriculture communities. One of its cities, Arvin, has been dubbed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the most polluted in America. For goodness sakes, some people have to actually remain inside on some of the worst days! Childhood asthma is nearly 5% more common than anywhere else in the nation.
The neighboring city, Bakersfield, adds heat in from the highway for one broiling stinkfest. And Fresno, also in the area, has air that is proclaimed to be “just as bad as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day”. 99 days of the year on average it is on orange alert for such contamination, and 15 days when it’s in code red! So unless you’d like to find yourself acquiring asthma, emphysema, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes, don’t go there!
The San Joaquin Valley (including Arvin) is not a vacation destination. The industrial ag businesses in this area grow the vegetables that are in your supper market; outlying areas produce oil. If you are concerned about the people in the San Joaquin valley, drive less, buy organic produce, and support the farm workers in their struggle for a non-toxic work environment.
Mike Smith
January 12th, 2009