LA COLONIA, Calif. (KERO) — Hope is in the air as a recent report shows improvements in Kern County’s air quality. And while the county sees a lot of progress, locals say the fight for fresh air is far from over.
- Kern County notoriously has poor air quality, but the recent State of the Air report marks a historic improvement.
- The American Lung Association released its annual State of the Air report.
- While this report shows progress in the valley’s air quality, one local says it's time for a call to action.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The State of the Air report from the American Lung Association gives different areas throughout the United States grades on air quality.
While Kern County received an ‘F,’ Jon Klassen, the director of Air Quality Science at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District says Kern County has made a historical improvement.
“We attained this air quality standard that we’ve been working on for a number of decades,” said Klassen. “This is the annual average of 15 micrograms per meter cube for PM 2.5. And that’s been a massive change for the valley and a big accomplishment for the whole region in Kern County as well.”
But in La Colonia, or Mexican Colony, just south of Shafter, residents say they get the short end of the stick.
Dora Hernandez-Jara has been advocating for cleaner air in her community for the past 50 years.
“I represented La Colonia because, I mean, we’re the ones that it’s affecting. The people that live in the city or in the town, I mean, they get the pollution, but we’re right in it,” said Hernandez-Jara. “As residents, we represent the poor communities and there was a struggle to try to be recognized and heard against like the industry…”
She has been pushing to implement more measures in La Colonia that would help limit air pollution, such as vegetative barriers or dust mitigation.
But she says this is just a band aid approach to a bigger issue.
“We could say we want this, we want that, and this would help us in that. But ultimately those that are polluting… they’re not putting their share in stopping all this pollution,” said Hernandez-Jara.
Klassen reminds locals that, even though Kern County has passed the first standard, it's far from ‘mission accomplished.’
“We say for people just in the neighborhood, their everyday life, think about what you can do to keep reducing pollution from your activities,” said Klassen.
Click here for the full State of the Air report, available on the American Lung Association website.
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