air quality | 511 Contra Costa

2010 Clean Air Plan for the Bay Area released by BAAQMD

Posted on April 7, 2010

Think the Bay Area’s got good air? Think again. The nine Bay Area counties* currently fail to meet state and federal public health standards for smog, soot, and fine particles. These types of air pollution can irritate the eyes and throat, trigger asthma attacks, and increase the risk of strokes and heart attacks.
State law requires districts that fail to meet smog standards to create smog-cleanup plans. As a result, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) created a 520-page plan with 57 possible measures to clean the Bay Area’s air, targeting everyone from dairy farmers and wineries to oil refineries and homebuilders.
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This Week’s Headlines in Transportation & Transit: Feb. 27 – Mar. 5, 2010

Posted on March 5, 2010

Local News

Public hearing on March 18, 2010 at 9 AM on The County Connection 10-Year Short Range Transit Plan
The City of Richmond solicits feedback via a survey on motorist, pedestrian, cyclist, & transit user safety
BART’s Central Contra Costa Crossover Project will cause delays of up to 15 min. on weekends for BART riders traveling on trains bound for Pittsburg/Bay Point
Great news for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians: 1,000-acre public space (Hidden Valley Open Space) opens in San Ramon Dougherty Valley with 10 miles of dirt trails

Bay Area and California News

For these headlines, transit promos and more, follow 511 Contra Costa on Twitter!

Spare the Air Alert Ends for the 2009-2010 Winter Season

Posted on March 2, 2010

[Photo by mattboschetti]

On February 28, 2010 the Winter Spare the Air season ended. Winter Spare the Air alerts will resume beginning November 1, 2010. After this day, it will be illegal to burn wood during Winter Spare the Air alerts.
However, residents who do burn in a fireplace our outdoor fire pit must still burn cleanly using dry seasoned firewood and not burn garbage, leaves or other material that would cause excessive smoke. Residents who exceed the excessive visible smoke provision in the wood burning rule could still be subject to an air district ticket or fine. For more information about the Wood-Burning Rule, visit Spare the Air’s official website.
Related: Read more about iSmog for iPhone, a free application that delivers Spare the Air alerts to your phone. The application also displays air quality information for all five Bay Area air basins.

Monitor Air Quality in the Bay Area with iSmog – a free application for iPhone

Posted on February 1, 2010

The effects of particle pollution are serious. According to the American Lung Association, the particles are so small they bypass the body’s natural defenses and lodge deep in the lungs. Click here to view a short video clip on particle pollution.
However, the good news is that Spare the Air regulation does work in the Bay Area. According to Jack Broadbent, executive officer for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District:

Fine particles in wood smoke produce the same kinds of health effects as diesel exhaust pollution.

Continue reading “Monitor Air Quality in the Bay Area with iSmog – a free application for iPhone”

New Map Section on 511contracosta

Posted on October 13, 2009

We have a great selection of transportation-related maps in Contra Costa pulled into one comprehensive map page. The collection includes maps for bike routes, air quality, transit service, park & ride lots and much more.
Suggestions of other maps you would like to see here can be posted here in the comments.

Monitor Bay Area Air Quality With Our iSmog iPhone Application

Posted on October 7, 2009

511 Contra Costa is proud to announce the release of its very first iPhone app – iSmog!

iSmog displays air quality information for the San Francisco Bay Area. With just a tap of the screen, users will see an easy-to-understand map of environmental quality in the Bay Area’s five air basins, built using data provided by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). With this information, commuters can make more informed choices about environmentally friendly transportation options, and members of sensitive groups will be better able to stay abreast of information that can be, literally, life-or-death.

Push notification alerts users with allergies or other environmental sensitivities when the air contains unhealthy levels of contaminants including ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and two sizes of particulate matter, all precursors of ozone. Notifications can be customized by level of sensitivity and by geographic area.

Read more about iSmog here: https://511contracosta.org/ismog/