NIPOMO, Calif. - Dust from the Oceano Dunes has kicked up outrage among people living in the Nipomo-Mesa area.
The State Parks Department which oversees the Oceano Dunes has been told to do something about the problem. According to the county, they haven't done enough.
Paul Stolpman, who lives in Nipomo near the dunes, says, "you come up onto the mesa. You see ahead of you this white haze. And those are the bad days."
Stolpman says dust from the Oceano Dunes has had an affect on his active lifestyle.
"This particular pollution comes on strong during the middle of the day when you want to be outside enjoying this environment."
The Air Pollution Control District of San Luis Obispo, or APCD, has made efforts to get the State Parks Department to do something about the dust that comes from the popular off-roading spot. According to the county, the Parks Department hasn't been cooperating. So they're sending a letter to the governor and the new State Parks Director, retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Anthony Jackson, in hopes of getting the problem solved.
APCD Executive Director Larry Allen says, "we need a firm commitment from the state that they are actually going to install real controls to mitigate this dust."
The Parks Department didn't show up for the county air board meeting Wednesday. When Central Coast News spoke with the APCD, they said they still hadn't heard from them still.
Central Coast News received this statement from the State Parks Department:
We were quite concerned at the tone of the APCD meeting held yesterday, particularly as State Parks has met all deadlines mandated in APCD Rule 1001. Technical staff from State Parks and APCD are continuing to discuss appropriate approaches of how to measure sand movement in the dunes. The State has purchased monitoring equipment and is eager to deploy it in the dunes as soon as we are granted permits to do so. Our goal is the most accurate information possible on the shifting sand. State Parks has also continued to carry out its annual re-vegetation efforts in the dunes, which is a known method of minimizing sand movement and has been carried out for many years by State Parks to enhance the dynamic dune environment. We are in compliance with Rule 1001, and are currently completing the documents need to meet the November 30th deadline to submit applications to appropriate agencies for Particulate Matter Reduction Plan projects that require regulatory approval.
That letter to Sacramento will still be sent by the county air board.
"Our hope is that they will look at the situation and say we need to do something to protect public health on the Central Coast," says Allen.
