Diesel issue still up in the air

BURBANK — Protracted negotiations between Bob Hope Airport and air quality officials over the use of a 25-year-old diesel exhaust generator continue to drag on, nine months after the airfield was slapped with a violation.

Negotiations between the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority and the South Coast Air Quality Management District have centered on a July 16, 2007, violation — served more than a year later — that alleges the airport overused its airfield lighting vault generator, spewing smog-causing diesel fumes into the air at a rate that exceeded its 30-hour allowance.

While some exemptions apply, the 25-year-old generator did not meet required emission standards to exceed the 30 hours, said Mohsen Nazemi, the air quality district’s deputy executive officer of engineering and compliance.

The violation came on the heels of a multiyear study that found nearly 85% of the cancer risk due to air pollution comes from diesel exhaust, according to results of the district’s 2008 Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study.

“Our region has the worst air quality in the nation, and there are concerns with the type of equipment that runs on diesel,” Nazemi said.

While most diesel sources are mobile — trucks, trains and ships — stationary equipment, such as the 4,000 emergency backup generators used by public agencies, are also of concern, he said.

The airport authority in April 2008, acknowledging that its generator used an underground diesel fuel storage tank and did not include modern emission reduction technology, approved a $196,570 contract to acquire a state-of-the-art diesel standby generator and particulate exhaust filter.

The airport received the equipment in December, and it was installed in April.

“When we tell the commission our capital projects that were accomplished, frankly, it’s one of our merit badges for the year,” said airport spokesman Victor Gill.

The generator, although approved six months before the airport was served with the violation, may have come too late, Nazemi said.

“The majority of our notices — over 90% — are settled,” he said.

Although the matter has been forwarded to the air quality district’s prosecuting office, “I think there are a number of mitigating circumstances that do get considered,” Nazemi said.

But, he added: “I think the company was aware that this unit could not operate more than [30 hours].”