The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 22

2003:01:31:22:09:16 The State B8 CALIFORNIA LOSANGELESTIMES By Gary Polakovic Times Staff Writer Conflict over air quality in the smoggy San Joaquin Valley erupted anew this week as clean- air advocates filed a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of exempting major agricultural polluters from a new dust-control requirement. It is the sixth lawsuit in the past few years against air-quality agencies that have fallen far behind federally mandated clean- air goals for the valley. Meanwhile, a pall of brown haze shrouds the valley much of the year, which health experts say heightens the risk of respiratory damage for the 3.4million residents. Filed by a coalition of health and environmental advocates, the latest suit centers on a measure to reduce dust from unpaved roads, vacant lots, construction sites, building materials and tilled fields.

Agricultural sources are exempt from the dust abatement requirements, although farming and related operations account for nearly two-thirds of all dust and smoke. Federal air-quality officials acknowledge that they approved the measure Jan. 22 hoping they could strengthen it later. EPA officials also acknowledge that the regulation was developed with direct involvement of members of the Bush administration in Washington, D.C., after farm lobbyists sought relief from what they regarded as a costly and burdensome regulation. The San Joaquin Valley is one of the smoggiest places in the United States.

Last summer, there were virtually no days of good air quality. Microscopic particles of dust and smoke blot out the sun, obscure mountain views and contribute to the incidences of asthma and cancer. These particles in valley air increased in the past three years. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District developed an anti-dust plan three years ago, but the EPA initially rejected it as too lenient. A new regulation was developed, crafted by industry groups and EPA officials in Washington and San Francisco.

It was approved by the local air district in November 2001. Although the regulation is expected to cut particle pollution by 7 tons only of the total the EPA exempted all on-field agricultural sources, including combines and tractors, animal feeding operations, and farms smaller than 320 acres. Furthermore, the EPA did not require control measures or even control measures, many of which have been in effect in the Coachella Valley and around Phoenix for many years. approved plan was a sweetheart deal written behind closed doors by industry and EPA as a way to avoid the cutoff of federal highway funding and to duck obligation to prepare its own cleanup said Mike Sherwood, a staff attorney for Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The suit, filed Wednesday, asks the U.S.

9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to review the actions. Officials at the California Farm Bureau and the Nisei Farmers League in Fresno did not respond to requests for interviews on the matter. The suit is the latest to be brought by a coalition of physicians, environmentalists and Latino community leaders against air-quality agencies. Recently, they have sued to overturn an exemption by the Legislature for agricultural pollution and an exemption for the oil industry in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley. They also have sued to enforce six smog-cutting measures in the valley.

EPA officials, meanwhile, say the lawsuits are slowing their efforts to achieve clean air. time for the environmentalists to stop going to court on all these lawsuits. We want to sit down and talk about these control measures and stop tying up our resources defending said Jack Broadbent, director of the air programs in California and the Southwest. But clean-air advocates say they will stop suing when government regulators get tough on air pollution. They argue that air-quality officials have missed every cleanup deadline set by the federal Clean Air Act since 1991, and that they have failed to produce a viable plan to cut smog and haze in the valley.

The advocates point out that the Valley Air District has asked the EPA to designate the valley as one of only two smog centers in the nation. the perfect world, we would snap our fingers and the valley would have attainment clean said Josette Merced Bello, spokeswoman for the valley air district. reasonable ways to control these emissions has been a she added. do you reasonably control dust from tilling? How do you do that without putting agriculture out of EPA Sued Over Clean-Air Rule Exemptions Environmentalists act to reverse a ruling that new dust-control limits apply to San Joaquin Valley agricultural polluters. FRESNO Waste Hauler Accused of Putting Grease in Sewers Prosecutors from 12 counties are accusing a Fresno disposal company of illegally dumping kitchen grease into public sewers and storm drains, causing water pollution and damage to sewers.

In a complaint filed Thursday in San Joaquin County Superior Court, prosecutors allege that Thrifty Best illegal dumping from Redding to Rancho Cucamonga violates water and wildlife laws. SACRAMENTO Ex-State Schools Chief Wants Verdict Dismissed Former California schools chief Delaine Eastin asked a judge Thursday to throw out a verdict against her. Defense attorneys challenged ruling that a former Department of Education employee deserved compensation after being demoted. James Lindbergsaid he and other workers were fired or forced to quit after they reported the misuse of federal funds by community-based organizations that ran adult education English and citizenship classes. FRESNO Pastor Accused of Abuse 20 Years Ago Faces Trial ABaptist pastor has been ordered to stand trial on child molestation charges.

Calvin Eugene Moore, 46, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a teenage boy while ayouth pastor at St. Rest Baptist Church 20 years ago. He faces felony charges of oral copulation, sodomy and providing pornography to a minor. During a preliminary hearing Thursday, police testified that Moore admitted twice to having had a sexual relationship with the victim, now 34. SANTA CRUZ Judge Upholds Decision That Pit Bull Must Die Cocoa Puff, a pit bull that menaced neighbors but never bit anyone, must be destroyed, a judge has ruled.

The dog got in trouble after neighbors complained that it growled at them and their children. The dog was ruled vicious by animal control workers, and owner Bonnie Ridino was ordered to keep it penned up. But when the dog got loose again, it was dubbed a repeat offender and sentenced to death. MARTINEZ Killer of 5-Year-Old Girl Is Sentenced to Death Aman convicted of murdering his 5-year-old daughter almost two decades ago was formally sentenced to death Friday. Larry Christopher Graham, 51, was convicted in August of killing Angela Bugay, whose body was found in 1983, a week after she disappeared from the Antioch apartment she shared with her mother.

Graham was not arrested until 1996, when DNA testing was used to analyze evidence found on the body. PALO ALTO Teen Faces Hit-and-Run Counts in Fatal Accident Ahigh school student charged with hitting a group of children with her car will face two counts of hit-and-run driving, a prosecutor said Friday. Megan Coughran was driving to Palo Alto High School when she allegedly hit the children, one of whom died of her injuries. From Times Wire Reports IN BRIEF From Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO Ed Rosenthal, the author of books on how to grow marijuana and avoid the law, was found guilty Friday of federal marijuana cultivation and conspiracy charges. Deliberating for a day, the 12-member jury concluded that Rosenthal, the self-described of was growing more than 1,000 plants, conspiring to cultivate marijuana and maintaining a warehouse for a growing operation.

He faces 10 years to life when sentenced June 4. Several people in the courtroom, including wife and daughter, wept as the verdicts were read by a court clerk. The verdicts were a victory in the federal battle against 1996 voter-approved medical marijuana law. arrest last year was among a string of Drug Enforcement Administration raids on medical marijuana suppliers in California. Under strict orders from U.S.

District Judge Charles Breyer, Rosenthal tell the jury he was growing pot as for medical marijuana program. Voters authorized program and other medical marijuana providers across California under Proposition 215. Eight other states also allow the sick and dying to smoke or grow marijuana with recommendation. But federal authorities do not recognize those laws. is no such thing as medical said Richard Meyer, a DEA spokesman.

Americans first, Californians Outside the courtroom, jury foreman Charles Sackett III said jurors suspected Rosenthal was growing medical marijuana, since a host of protesters outside the courthouse held constant demonstrations. Sackett, however, said the jury followed federal law when it reached its had no legal wiggle Sackett said. When asked if he hoped the verdicts would be overturned on appeal, Sackett replied: yes, I About two dozen protesters were screaming and crying outside the courthouse after the verdict. The government portrayed Rosenthal as a major drug supplier. Because federal laws trump state laws, Breyer ruled that Rosenthal could not defend himself with Proposition 215.

Marijuana, under federal rules, has no medical benefit. was not trying to grow drugs for illicit said Nathan Miley, a former Oakland city councilman. Rosenthal, who remains free on bail, did not immediately comment, but in earlier interviews, he said Breyer, brother of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, should have stepped down. want the whole truth Rosenthal said. Rosenthal has said anything but a drug dealer, noting that the plants agents seized have buds, the part of the plant normally smoked for ahigh.

He planned to give out cuttings to seriously ill people. Afounder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Rosenthal used to write the column for magazine and has researched and written nearly 20 books on marijuana. Millions of copies have been sold, with titles such as Growers Big Book of and Ed: Marijuana Throughout the trial, lawyers repeatedly tried to get medical marijuana mentioned. During closing remarks, defense attorney Robert Eye told jurors: ask you to check your common sense of justice when you enter the lawyers were twice rebuffed by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in their bid to have the appeals court force Breyer to allow them to call witnesses to testify that marijuana was being grown for the sick and dying.

motions for reconsideration, rehearing, clarification any other submissions shall be filed or the San Francisco-based appeals court wrote. Associated Press AFTER THE VERDICT: Family friend Will Foster, center, comforts Justine and Nick Rosenthal after their father was found guilty of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy charges. of Found Guilty of Federal Marijuana Charges California law on medical use was not allowed in author Ed defense. He faces a sentence of 10 years to life. Reuters PROTESTING CHARGES: Medical marijuana supporter Anna Foster hangs her head after hearing of Ed conviction in federal court in San Francisco on Friday.

Reuters GUILTY: Ed Rosenthal will be sentenced June 4. ket clerk reported that, sometime around Christmas, a pregnant customer had said she was being kidnapped. The clerk said she forgot to tell police about the incident until news reports made her think the customer might have been Peterson. Longview police said they looked at the surveillance tapes covering periods during which the clerk worked since Christmas Eve and concluded that Peterson appear on any of them. From a Times Staff Writer Surveillance videotapes from amarket in Longview, where a clerk reported that she might have encountered the missing Laci Peterson of Modesto, do not show any images of Peterson, police said Friday.

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