Air Pollution Foundation Final Report 1961

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As spelled out in the first brochure issued by the Foundation's Board of Trustees in late 1953, the "sole reason for the existence of the Air Pollution Foundation is to shorten the time it will take to eliminate smog." We believe we have accomplished this task. We have helped supply the facts that the only remaining cause of Los Angeles smog is motor vehicle exhaust. This report is primarily a history of the Foundation and its accomplishments. We have been instrumental in getting private industry to develop suitable exhaust control devices and in convincing California's legislators of the need for a state-wide motor vehicle pollution control law. But the final report on smog will not be written until adequate exhaust control will have become a reality.

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Some industrial opposition to the bill (proposing the APCD) developed and, for a time, threatened its passage. However, after a meeting ... with industry officials, opposition was withdrawn and the bill was passed. By 1940 periods of polluted air were becoming noticeable more frequently and with greater intensity. By this time the population of the Los Angeles Basin … had reached nearly 3 million. But with the onset of World War II, more pressing problems arose, and air pollution problems were subordinated to the war effort. During this period, however, widespread complaints concerning atmospheric eye irritation became common. -- The Beginnings of Smog Early 1940s more and more eye-irritating smog. 1944 crop damage. -- Early Control Activity In 1945 Stephen W. Royce, president and manager of the Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, asked Gen. Amos Thomas to join his staff to find out what smog was and what could be done about it. LA Times brought Prof. Raymond Tucker who had spearheaded the St. Louis cleanup to Los Angeles for a study that required several weeks. Board of Supervisors LA County appointed the County Health Officer its Director of Air Pollution Control... The City of Los Angeles also set up a Bureau of Air Pollution Control in the City Health Department. By the spring of 1946, it became apparent that an all-embracing air pollution control district was preferable to the nonuniform codes of many municipalities and the county.

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Considerable venom was directed toward petroleum refiners, who had yet to live down their short-lived opposition to the passage of the law setting up the APCD. Refineries were accused of dumping pollutants into the atmosphere under the black of nigth: the APCD was accused of not enforcing the law. "Letters to the Editor" by the overzealous, by fanatics By the fall of 1953, charges and countercharges reached a crescendo ... It was suggested that unless the smog problem could be solved, "parts of Southern California may have to be evacuated." -- The Air Pollution Control District (APCD) activated on October 14, 1947 During the next six years, a great deal of progress was made in controlling industrial effluents, but in spite of this, smog conditions became worse.

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A five-day siege of smog in late October and early November brought the confusion to a head. The vice-mayor of Pasadena said the city "may sue all Southern California oil refineries." He also asked the Governor to declare Southern California an emergency and to quarantine every producer of air pollutants causing smog. On the fifth day of the smog siege, downtown office workers were reported to have "walked off the job in droves." The acting postmaster complained that the smog was making it difficult for him to breathe and was reported to have collapsed at his desk. A prominent physician said that anyone who could get out of town should do so at once. -- The Air Pollution Foundation is Formed It was in this environment that the Air Pollution Foundation was organized. Agreement to organize was reached at a meeting of more than 75 businessmen, industrialists, civic leaders, churchmen and government officials at the Ambassador Hotel on November 2, 1953. Foundation offiically incorporated November 16 1953 Chairman of the meeting, Asa V. Call, president of Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co, said: "As of today, smog is the most serious matter that faces the area (Southern California). A number of groups have been going in different directions. Maybe they can be controlled and maybe they can't ... This shoudl be a program carried out over a period of several years without fear or favor. If we can come up with the answer and somebody gets hurt, that's too bad. If no one gets hurt, so much the better."

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The increasing activity of the Federal Government was one factor that contributed to the slackening of general activities on the part of the Foundation and concentration on the motor vehicle exhaust problem. As Federal research projects increased, the Foundaiton could focus its attention almost completely on the unique factors of Los Angeles smog. The Federal Government entered the air pollution scene on a large scale with the passage of Public Law 159 in 1955. The law directed the U.S. Public Health Service to conduct and support research on air pollution and to provide technical services to state and local governments and to private agencies. Authorization was granted for appropriation of funds up to $25 million over a five-year period. Federal Government Activities APF evaluated all pertinent literature on LA smog and District data on emissions of contaminant from fuel-oil burning and data on the atmospheric concentrations of sulfur dioxide 1953-1958. Also engaged SRI to evaluate District data on vegetation damage. APF’s report submitted to the Board of Supervisors “showed there was no scientific basis for Rule 62.” “Obviously, there must have been political reasons for the rule.” In November, 1958, the U.S. PHS sponsored a Nat. Conf. on Air Pollution in Wash. D.C. Purpose of the conference was to assess the atmospheric pollution problem in the United States in all its social, political, and scientific aspects. The proceedings of the conference were published ... it still serves as an excellent resume of the state of our knowledge of air pollution matters as of that date.

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In the meantime, there will be concentrated efforts to reduce even further the remaining emissions from stationary sources. Some of the proposals will undoubtedly be capricious if one is to judge from recent Rules 62 and 63. The one difficult problem to be overcome not only in Los Angeles, but elsewhere, is the hiatus in our knowledge relating human health to air contaminants. This can be solved only by research, and probably research at the Federal level or supported largely with Federal funds. The misguided hypochondriacs who sieze every opportunity to harass the economy by shouting for more control of everything (but without evidence of need) are doing themselves a disservice. Now that the cause of eye-irritating smog (motor vehicle exhaust) is known, and the State of California has set up means for its control, what does the future hold for LA? Will the State Board do a thorough job and require control devices on all motor vehicles, or will so many exemptions be made that smog will be only slightly alleviated? If all goes as expected, the area should be truly "smog-free" by the summer of 1968. 1961: DISSOLUTION - AND BEYOND This problem of more and more control based on suspicion or a supposed need to show official concern poses economic problems that can only result in great harm to the community if officials fail to consider economics. One can make air over LA as "pure" as that over the High Sierras, but in so-doing the community could be destroyed. On the other hand, one can have reasonably clean air and a thriving community as well if the equities are considered in the development of air pollution legislation.

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PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS STAFF Charles A. Jones, Executive Secretary, Smoke and Fumes Committee, American Petroleum Institute TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE (1955-1957) William H. Claussen, Executive Secretary, Smoke and Fumes Committee, American Petroleum Institute (and Standard Oil of California - now Chevron) Charles M. Heinen, Vice Chairman, Vehicle Combustion Products, Subcommittee, Automobile Manufacturers Association (and Chrysler) Dr Lawrence M. Richards, Assistant Manager of Research and Development, Richfield Oil Corporation (now BP) W. L. Faith, Deputy Director and Chief Engineer, 1954-1956; Managing Director, 1957-1961 (also a member of the Coordinating Research Council a joint venture between the Society of Automotive Engineers and the American Petroleum Institute)

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