(APCD Officer updates Board of Holiday Air Pollution)….Matt Desert made two presentations.

One to the County Board of Supervisors and one to the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors. Desert was an IID Director before becoming the Air Pollution Control Officer for Imperial County. Desert said there were extreme levels of pollutants in the air over the Holidays. He said it was created by bon-fires, vehicle emissions, dust created by off-road vehicles, dust from the exposed Salton Sea playa and more. Desert said much of the pollutants were created in Mexicali, but a lot of it came from Imperial County, as well. He said once the pollution was created, a lack of wind and a strong inversion layer held it in place, with some of the pollution spreading into Imperial County. Desert said the IID and the County needed to work together and with officials south of the border on ways to minimize the air pollution.