The just finished month of October had more violations of the 8-hour federal ozone standard than any October since 2003. There were ten violations this year, many of them in Southern Kern County. The second highest total over the eight year period from 2004-2011 was eight plus 2006 and 2007 had none.
Worst October in Eight Years
To make an accurate comparison of past years to this year, solo violations that occurred at the Arvin Bear Mt monitor have been removed from the data. That monitor was removed for 2011 and it is not accurate to compare 2011 to past years if Arvin data is not removed.
Particulate Levels Also On The Increase
For the 24 hr PM 2.5 standard October saw the valley with 9 violations. This was also the highest total since 2003. Especially worrisome were the 7 days when both ozone and particulate standards were violated in the South Valley making the air residents were breathing between Fresno and Bakersfield especially dangerous.
