“We are focusing on indoor air quality because there is not much we can do about outdoor ambient air quality,” Estrada said.

 Common household air pollutants include combustion products such as tobacco smoke, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter. Biological contaminants that are often found in homes are mold, dust mites, pollen, bacteria and viruses. Familiar chemical contaminants are pesticides, asbestos and lead. VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are a group of chemicals that evaporate into the air at room temperature and are a major cause of indoor air pollution. VOCs are found in many products, including paints, fuels, and cleaning products.

Estrada suggested using good ventilation when cleaning small areas as aromatic hydrocarbons can pose fleeting as well as long-term health risks. Children with developing lungs are a lot more susceptible to it.

“Asthma affects almost 12% of people living in Tribal communities, nearly double the national average of 7%,” she said. “Managing triggers is important for Tribal communities who are disproportionately affected by asthma.”

Estrada broke down how different pollutants can be found in different rooms within a house due to their needed source. Bedrooms with pillows, blankets, carpets, upholstered furniture and stuffed toys can easily harbor biological contaminants, while damp surfaces in bathrooms can be prone to mold.

Some of the health effects of indoor pollution are respiratory problems, allergic reactions, eye irritation, headaches, nausea and even some forms of cancer that can develop as a result of environmental factors. Many health conditions can be attributed to pollutants, which is why it is important to be protected from exposure as much as possible.

Ways to reduce indoor air pollution include avoiding smoking indoors, dusting and vacuuming regularly and properly adjusting and maintaining combustion appliances to control the sources.

Ventilation can be improved by opening windows and doors, operating window fans or air conditioning and using exhaust fans. During times of outdoor air pollution, it is recommended to close windows and doors and use air cleaners and filtration systems to maximize effectiveness.

Estrada explained that effectiveness depends on how well it collects pollutants from indoor air (percentage efficiency rate) and how much air it draws through the filtering element (cubic feet per minute). She added that under ideal conditions, air cleaners can provide up to 90% reduction in indoor air pollution.

To help the talking circle participants get a head start on improving their home’s air quality, she led a do-it-yourself air purifier activity. The project involved attaching a square air filter to the back of a portable box fan so that it would instantly filter indoor air when the fan is turned on. Allowing it to be taken to various rooms within the house increases its ability to filter the air in the most offensive rooms, whether it be in the kitchen while cooking or in the living room while the fireplace is going.

“A typical 20-inch box fan can move about 1,500 to 2,000 cubic feet of air per minute depending on the model and speed settings,” Estrada explained. “In one hour, it would move 90,000 cubic feet. Using it in smaller settings of 300-1,000 sq. ft. is more realistic and more beneficial.”

Estrada began working at STED several months ago. A graduate of UC, Davis with a degree in Environmental Science focusing on Natural Resource Management, she previously worked for an air quality regulatory agency in Northern California. She is excited to bring her knowledge to Soboba to expand the air quality monitoring program.

“I am interested in reducing major smoke event impacts to the community through education, monitoring and fuels management,” Estrada said. “Compared to positions I’ve had in the past, being an Environmental Specialist for Soboba has made me realize just how interconnected major environmental threats are, especially in Indian Country where the resources to address them aren’t always readily available. For example, the way our changing climate influences the amount of rain we get in a year, which then influences the health of native vegetation, which affects the stability of our hillsides and streambeds, which comes back to affect local air quality, which I know in the long term, contributes to climate change. It’s a very real-world application of the positive feedback loop I learned about in school, and it requires us as staff to be both creative and persistent in addressing these issues in the interest of preserving the natural resources of the Reservation.”

She also introduced participants to an app that tracks fires and wind conditions to help residents see if they can expect to be impacted by smoke from wildfires, no matter their location. For more information, https://app.watchduty.org.

Tribal member Rosemary Morillo said this discussion from STED was important to Soboba residents because with climate change the air isn’t as clean as it used to be.

“A growth in population means more homes and vehicles,” she said. “These days, there are just too many people; that’s the cause of the poor air quality.”

She recalled that in the 1960s when there were only about 200 people living on the Soboba Reservation, their wells produced the best drinking water in the area, and they enjoyed clean air. These days, the weather is drier and there isn’t a rainy season like there used to be in the past.

Environmental Assistant Christine Rodriguez recently visited the Soboba Tribal Preschool to teach the youngest Tribal members about air quality. She said that for the children, her presentation was geared towards showing them that different colored flags represent different levels of air pollution from good (green) to hazardous (maroon). Using this system, the children can see the flag color upon entering the building each morning where it is posted on the front lobby’s wall.

Utilizing the publication from the United States Environmental Protection Agency titled, “Why is Coco Red?” Rodriguez was able to engage the children with a story and follow-up coloring activity about how a chameleon named Coco and his friends learn about wildfire smoke and how it can affect air quality and health.

“Them being so young, I think it was just more fun for them to hear the story, color, and ask questions,” Rodriguez said. “The main point was to introduce them to the Air Quality Index and learn the colors, so hopefully as we expand our education on the topic, they will continue seeing it as they go through school and can help teach others about it. Youth are the future, and they will soon be the ones who will be educating others.”

 Having the flags prominently displayed will help parents and teachers gain insight and help them decide whether to let the children play outside when it’s nice or keep them inside during bad air quality events. The main goal of this program is to bring awareness to daily levels of air pollution so people can make informed decisions. Data collected from sensors positioned throughout the Reservation provides the AQI levels that are posted on the https://sobobaair.com/data/aqi website.

Weather stations have been installed at three key locations and provide detailed information at any given time of day as well as future forecasting. This is just another way that the Soboba Tribal Environmental Department is keeping Tribal members informed and updated on issues that affect their homeland. Morillo said she would like to see STED host future conversations about off-road recreational vehicles that cause erosion to the Reservation’s hills.

For more information, https://epa.soboba-nsn.gov.

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Under federal and state law, the SCAQMD is required to ensure state and federal air quality standards are met within the district’s South Coast Air Basin, which includes Orange and Riverside counties, as well as most of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

According to the SCAQMD, the proposed rule changes (Rules 1111 and 1112) require replacing natural gas heating systems and/or natural gas hot water heaters with zero-emission models like electric.

When finalized (expected this year), the rule changes would take effect in two to five years but would only be required when gas appliances break or are voluntarily replaced.

However, there is some flexibility in the proposals. For example, exceptions would be allowed for construction or utility upgrade delays, high-altitude areas, and owners of multifamily buildings.

SCAQMD is working on an incentive program to provide rebates for residents, building owners, and businesses that will be required to make costly equipment updates, including hiring licensed electricians to run new power supply lines and, for some owners, installing new electric panels.

The SCAQMD’s proposals, otherwise known as zero-NOx rules, are in line with efforts by the California Air Resources Board that aim to reduce building-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Several California cities already have codes in place that require all-electric appliances. For example, the city of Los Angeles requires new residential and commercial buildings to be built all-electric, with exceptions for commercial cooking.

In the South Coast Air Basin, more than 75 percent of households use gas appliances for cooking, which accounted for about 11 percent of total residential combustion emissions in 2018, according to the SCAQMD.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed AB 2513, which would have prohibited the sale of gas stoves in California unless the appliances contained specified warning labels alerting consumers to health risks associated with the products.

The SCAQMD states that pollutant emissions from residential cooking appliances are not currently regulated by the district or any other agencies.

Language in support of SCAQMD’s proposed zer0-NOx rules states that there are health benefits associated with zero-emissions heaters and water heaters, including the prevention of: 4,000 premature deaths, 16,000 cases of newly onset asthma, and 4,000 emergency room visits.

SoCalGas, which serves Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, has about 5.9 million customers, according to the utility.

SCAQMD has already held public meetings about the proposed rule changes for natural gas heaters and water heaters. The next two events on the calendar are a March 6 “public consultation,” followed by a May 2 public hearing. Get more information here.

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In this unincorporated Riverside County community, the big-box distribution hubs responsible for fulfilling online shopping orders have long been contained to a substantial strip west of the freeway. Burlington, Living Spaces and FedEx are among nearly 50 warehouse properties located here, capitalizing on Mead Valley’s easy access to rail and freeway corridors.

Beyond this strip, though, Mead Valley residents embrace a rural lifestyle. People here raise horses and livestock; most streets are lined with gravel trails, rather than sidewalks, to accommodate riders on horseback. Besides the new Farmer Boys restaurant near the freeway, the community has few local businesses other than gas stations, feed stores and plant nurseries.

As e-commerce exploded during the COVID pandemic, more distribution centers rose along the freeway, bringing more trucks to local roadways. Still, there was an understanding that, beyond the clearly delineated industrial zone, Mead Valley residents could maintain their solitude and sweeping views, in exchange for shouldering a disproportionate share of an industry critical to America’s online shopping habit.

But that sacred line in the dirt — where warehouse development ends and rural living begins — could soon be blurred.

County leaders are reviewing a dozen requests that would rezone portions of rural residential land in Mead Valley to create more space for industrial use. Developers are seeking to expand warehouse development beyond the established industrial zone; at least one proposal would result in the demolition of dozens of homes as well as dedicated open space. Others would pierce the existing boundary, bringing the potential for warehouses and their 24/7 noise and exhaust to the outskirts of existing neighborhoods, fundamentally altering residents’ lifestyles.

County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries, who represents the district that includes Mead Valley, said he has “deep concerns” about the proposed changes. He described drawing a “big red rectangle” over Mead Valley’s industrial zone, indicating where he believed the boundaries of warehouse development should remain.

“All the low-hanging easy parcels for warehousing are pretty much all spoken for. And so the really big, deep-pockets developers now see opportunities to try and propose to go beyond the boundaries that have been put in place for decades,” said Jeffries, who is retiring after 12 years on the board.

“It’s going to be a challenge if they cross that line and start marching into what you might call Mead Valley proper. You start moving up that way — when or where does it stop?”

Resident Karla Cervantes expressed similar concerns. Cervantes and her husband, Franco Pacheco, raise their children and sheep on two acres in Mead Valley. She worries neighborhoods will start falling like dominoes as more rural residential land is rezoned for industrial use.

“Once one neighborhood is surrounded by warehouses, then the investors will come, buy them out, and then it creeps up more and more and more,” Cervantes said.

The county’s general plan amendment process, a largely bureaucratic zoning review the county undertakes every eight years, could prove pivotal for residents of Mead Valley this year: Will leaders green-light the proposed zoning changes, paving the way for more warehouses — and with them more jobs and revenue flowing into county coffers? Or is this the moment that the rapid-fire proliferation of distribution centers stretching for miles in each direction along the 215 corridor finally slows?

Riverside County’s unique rezoning process is the result of a more than two-decade-old settlement with the conservation group Endangered Habitats League, which sued the county in 2003 over concerns about sprawling development.

The settlement “resulted in a way to slow-roll development in the rural areas of the county,” said county planning director John Hildebrand.

Under terms of the settlement, developers who want to request zoning changes for swaths of land from one of five major uses to another — agriculture, open space, rural, rural community or community development — are able to request that change only every eight years, during the county’s Foundation General Plan Amendment cycle.

The process was designed to provide county leaders with the opportunity to take a comprehensive look at rezoning proposals, and “look at the bigger picture instead of piecemealing it,” said Dan Silver, executive director of the Endangered Habitats League.

Mead Valley, a majority Latino community of about 20,500 people, already has 2,000 square feet of warehouses per person, including existing and approved warehouses and those under environmental review, according to a data analysis by Susan Phillips, director of the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability at Pitzer College, and Mike McCarthy, an adjunct professor and data scientist at the college.

That’s one of the highest warehouse-per-resident ratios in the Inland Empire, according to their analysis. And the rezoning applications that developers have submitted would add more than 1,000 additional acres of warehouse projects.

In preparation for their requests, many developers have already positioned themselves as “property owners” of large parcels by getting enough local homeowners to agree to sell their land, in exchange for sizable payouts, contingent upon the county’s approval of the zoning changes.

The Planning Commission has so far heard three zoning-change requests for District 1, which includes Mead Valley; several were continued to future meetings. If supervisors approve the requests, the developers must return to get approval for specific projects.

One developer, Hillwood, is seeking a zoning change to build a million-square-foot warehouse, along with a public park, on about 65 acres of land just west of Mead Valley’s industrial corridor.

Currently known as the Cajalco Commerce Center, the proposed development would require the demolition of 26 homes and a commercial building. The developer has promised an estimated 974 jobs, as well as infrastructure improvements and landscaping along a main thoroughfare, according to the project’s draft environmental impact report. It would have a “significant and unavoidable” impact on air quality and transportation, the report said.

Paz Treviño lives on the outskirts of Mead Valley’s industrial corridor, on a two-acre lot where he sells heavy construction equipment. He has agreed to sell his property to Hillwood for $3 million, contingent on county approvals, he said. He has outgrown his current lot, he said, and with the money he stands to make from selling his land, he hopes to buy five or 10 acres elsewhere.

A member of Mead Valley’s Municipal Advisory Committee, he supports allowing more industrial development.

The warehouses, he said, bring jobs to a community where fewer than 8% of residents have a bachelor’s degree. He’s heard concerns about the lack of grocery stores, restaurants and healthcare facilities, and predicted those amenities would come as family incomes rise.

“We’re going to start getting the stores that people want,” he said. “But we’re not going to get those other industries — the food industries, the retail industries — without first having a stabilized middle class.”

He is frustrated with the anti-warehouse advocates trying to stand in the way of rezoning, and believes landowners such as himself should be able to profit handsomely from their investments. “It’s the landowners that have the last say, is what I say,” he said. “And if you’re not within the area, mind your damn business.”

Shanowa De La Cruz could end up on the losing end of that equation.

De La Cruz, her wife and their children moved to a five-bedroom house on one acre in Mead Valley not far from Treviño’s property about three years ago. It was supposed to be their forever home, where they could raise their kids — five of six still live at home — as well as chickens, goats, ducks and a pig.

“We like our solitude. That’s why most of us live over here in Mead Valley,” De La Cruz said.

Six months after buying the property, they learned about the Cajalco Commerce Center proposal — and that some neighbors had already agreed to sell their properties to Hillwood. De La Cruz said she contacted the company and got an offer that barely covered what they paid for the home, presumably because the developer doesn’t need their property for the project.

The situation has left De La Cruz between a warehouse and a hard place: The developer would need to pay a “substantial” amount of money to get her family to move, she said. But if she stays and the proposal is approved, the development would loom nearby, infringing on their privacy and tanking their home value.

“It’s going to be one of those houses that is in between a warehouse” development, she said. “We’ve all seen those houses. No one’s going to buy that. You say, ‘Aw, pobrecito, they left them there.’”

Scott Morse, executive vice president with Hillwood, declined to comment on De La Cruz’s situation. He said the proposal has public support.

“We’re bringing something to the community that is needed and wanted by the community,” he said, “so that’s our compass.”

Raymond Torres moved away from the “hustle and bustle” of the San Diego area more than 20 years ago and eventually built two homes on a quiet street in Mead Valley.

Standing in his driveway on a clear day, he can see the San Jacinto and San Gabriel ranges, and Big Bear and Palomar mountains. Across the street from his property is open space, where he says he regularly sees owls and kangaroo rats among the grasses and native plants. His neighbors ride horses on the land; he prefers to traverse it on wheels — by dirt bike, quad or go-kart.

The property directly across the street from him is not proposed for rezoning, but a large swath of open land surrounding it is. The real estate and investment firm Deca has proposed rezoning 648.5 gross acres from rural residential to community development, with a mix of residential, commercial and industrial components, according to Travis Duncan, Deca’s vice president of development.

“Additionally, we intend to set aside a substantial portion of the property as open space and are excited about the mix of commerce and conservation that the project offers,” Duncan said.

Torres said it’s “heartbreaking” to imagine the land being used for development.

“It’s our neighborhood,” he said. “We have pride in it.”

The Deca proposal would also bring industrial development much closer to the home of Cervantes and Pacheco. Their two-lane street already has become a truck bypass. They are concerned warehouses will beget warehouses, eventually ending up in their backyard.

Mead Valley is oversaturated with warehouses and semis, they argue, and yet the community itself remains underinvested. Mead Valley would look “amazing” if it was actually benefiting from major portions of the revenue that industrial development is generating for Riverside County, Cervantes jokes. Pacheco notes that the closest Target — on the other side of the freeway — is not a retail store but a massive distribution center.

Earlier this year, Pacheco and Cervantes launched the Mead Valley Coalition for Clean Air to oppose warehouse expansion. They see the rezoning fight as a fight for Mead Valley’s future. For the residents who stay, the question is whether county leaders will rubber-stamp continued expansion of the I-215 industrial corridor, and whether that line in the dirt — between industrial and rural residential — will survive.

But Cervantes said trying to keep Mead Valley from drowning in the shimmering sea of white warehouses often feels like an uphill battle. She worries about a future with worse air quality and decreased property values, and about the limited opportunities for young people growing up amid a mass logistics hub.

“When they look to see the sun rise,” she said, “they’re going to see the sun rise on a bunch of warehouses.”

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RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Dangerously hot conditions are in the forecast for Riverside County Wednesday but cooler temperatures are in the forecast for the next few days.

Record temperatures were reported in parts of Riverside County on Sunday and Monday.

The low in Palm Springs was 86 on Monday, breaking the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day of 85 set in 2023. The low in Borrego was 84, tying the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day set in 1999.

It was 110 in Riverside on Sunday, breaking the record for the day of 109 set in 1944.

The low in Riverside on Sunday was 80, breaking the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day of 75 set in 2022. The low temperature in Lake Elsinore was 74, tying the record for the highest minimum temperature for the day set in 2022.

Palm Springs reached 112 on Tuesday, but some relief was expected after that, with a high of 102 forecast for Wednesday and 97 for Thursday.

Downtown Riverside was 106 Monday, before dropping to 87 by Wednesday.

Indio’s high of 110 on Sunday and was expected to rise to 110 on Tuesday before dropping to 105 Wednesday and 99 Thursday.

An air quality alert was issued Saturday night until Monday evening for the Riverside County valleys and mountains, including the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona, Crestline and Idyllwild-Pine Cove. Forecasters said the heat wave and elevated particle pollution levels due to smoke from a San Bernardino County wildfire resulted in high levels of smog and ozone air pollution.

The hot, dry weather was creating elevated fire conditions across the mountains, valleys and deserts.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Air quality advisories were in effect Monday across a swath of Southern California due to hours of fireworks blasts and a wildfire north of Los Angeles.

The South Coast Air Quality District said poor air quality was likely through the afternoon because fireworks emit high levels of particulate matter.

The smell of smoke infused the overnight intrusion of damp marine air over the region.

“June Gloom continues its tight grip on Southern California early this morning despite the turn of the calendar,” the National Weather Service said.

July 4 and 5 are typically the worst days of the year for levels of fine particulate matter in the South Coast Air Basin. Breathing particulates can lead to a wide variety of cardiovascular and respiratory health effects.

A smoke advisory was also in effect due to the Tumbleweed Fire burning in mountains near Interstate 5 and the community of Gorman about 60 miles (96.56 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Areas adjacent to the fire were expected to experience the highest concentrations of pollutants.

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   Ruiz co-wrote the letter with Rep. Juan Vargas, D-El Centro, to the Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources requesting a hearing in the fall so that testimony can be heard from federal officials of various agencies he said have fallen short in their responsibility to help mitigate the environmental and public health challenges posed by the shrinking lake.

   “Congress must hold federal agencies accountable for protecting the public’s health and recognize that managing the Sea is an emergency. A hearing will allow me to ask federal agencies tough questions and hold them accountable to their agreements,” Ruiz said in a statement.

   He states in the letter that he would like the opportunity to ask officials from the U.S. Department of the Interior, which owns about 40% of the Salton Sea, “what obligations they have to prevent threats to public health as a result of that ownership.”

   He also wants to allow local stakeholders to provide Congress with testimony about the health issues created by the diminishing lake.

   Officials say that because the lake has historically been fed largely by agricultural runoff, dust picked up by wind from newly exposed lake bed contains dangerous chemicals that have contributed to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses for residents living near the Salton Sea in both Riverside and Imperial counties.

   Also of concern is the increased salinity level of the waters, which has left the lake on the “brink of ecological collapse,” according to Ruiz.

   “We view this hearing as a critical step towards establishing the robust federal-state partnership at the Salton Sea that is required in order to avoid a severe public health and environmental crisis,” he said.

   The last Congressional hearing on the Salton Sea was conducted by the House Natural Resources Committee in 1997.

Read Rep. Ruiz’s full letter below:

Search: “Salton Sea”

CONTACT: Hernan Quintas, Hernan.Quintas@mail.house.gov, 202-302-1137

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