Southland Has America's Worst Air—How do Eagle Rockers Manage?

Every couple of years, Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council President Michael Nogueira climbs a ladder and helps scrub the outer walls of his whitewashed Cape Cod home on 2154 Hill Dr., where parts of the 2013 Oscar-winning movie Argo were filmed.

"A lot of that has to do with the freeway," says Nogueira, an independent entrepreneur who also heads the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce and is widely regarded as the unofficial mayor of Eagle Rock. "Soot from the freeway settles on the house, on the ground and everything."

Nogueira's periodic clean-up shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone concerned about L.A.'s air quality, especially since Southern California, including the Inland Empire, continues to have the nation's worst air pollution and ranks fourth in short- term particle pollution and annual particle pollution, according to the American Lung Association.

California had seven out of the top 10 American cities with the worst ozone pollution, six of the top 10 cities with the worst short-term particle pollution, and eight of the top 10 cities with the worst annual particle pollution, the association said Wednesday in a report entitled "State of the Air 2013."

Jane Warner, president and chief executive of the American Lung Association in California, said that although the study demonstrates that "air pollution continues to put lives at risk throughout the state, it also "shows a continuing, long-term trend toward cleaner and healthier air."

Nogueira, who grew up in Highland Park and went to Eagle Rock High School, agrees. "When we were out, our eyes would burn," he recalls of his childhood. "I don't see that now, I don't feel it." Besides, he adds: "When you get the big winds, the air clears up and you can see the difference."

In the Los Angeles area, levels of ozone and particulate pollution continued to diminish, according to the report. Ozone levels in the region have fallen by 36 percent since the first "State of the Air" report in 2000, with unhealthy ozone days dropping from 190 to 122 days during that time period. Annual levels of particle pollution also dropped by 43 percent, and short term levels dropped by two-thirds, despite recent fluctuations. The area is close to meeting the federal standard for annual particle pollution.

The Bay Area also got high marks for reduced ozone and particle pollution.

Bakersfield-Delano ranked No. 1 in short-term particle pollution and tied with Merced for No. 1 in annual particle pollution; Fresno-Madera ranked Number Two in short-term particle pollution and No. 3 in annual particle pollution.

The state chapter of the American Lung Association is sponsoring Senate Bill 11 and Assembly Bill 8; they would extend two air quality incentive programs for another decade and raise more than $200 million annually.

• Click here to view an interactive ZIP Code air pollution map.